"The Land of the Half-Humans" by Thangjam Ibopishak

For six months just head without body, six months 

only body without head, has anyone seen a land 

inhabited by these people?

No? I have; it’s not a folk-tale; I not only 

saw but have been to that land.

For six months to talk and to eat is their work; 

like a millstone grinding. The following six 

months Bhima gorging and Shakuni suffering; for 

the headless body only shitting is its share. The 

head talks, eats, drinks; just talking, eating, 

drinking. While the body is working, labouring, 

shitting; work, labor, shit. And to sweat and 

be bone-weary. In the land of the half- body.

Do women live in that land? What does the species

of women look like?

There are women; there are children. The same 

goes for women too, half-and-half body. They have 

long hair like the women of our land. They are 

big, tall, buxom. As for clothes, they hang them 

below the waist. A body hidden by clothes is 

not permitted by the law of the land. When the 

body dwells for six months it's springtime for 

them. (Since the bodies are headless when the 

men and the women cohabit they are not fastidious.) 

The head-only gives birth within six months. Besides 

talking and eating the mouths of the women 

also deliver babies. The women have more attributes 

than the men. 

That is why the women have no teeth. God created 

them with ingenuity.

When the head walks its two broad fanlike ears 

spread wide and it flies like a bird, beating 

its wings. When they speak we can comprehend 

their language; they speak the language of men. 

But when the headless body speaks, a voice which 

no stranger can recognize emits from an orifice 

of the body. This voice is also accompanied by 

an odour.

Such a land is in the news; a land much talked 

about. The moon shines at night; the sun shines 

in the afternoon. There is no problem about 

poverty; dearth of food and clothes is unknown. 

Some men even surpass Midas. And the earnings of the 

body’s sweat of six months the six month-old head 

eats up with a vengeance.

There are political rights; a government is set up 

in the land. Democracy functions with total 

success. An election is held every five years. 

But for the people in this land there are no 

names. So for the nameless citizens the nameless 

deputies govern the land of the half-humans. Because 

whether to give human names either to the 

head or to the body — they cannot decide. Such 

a land is very much in the news, a land much 

talked about.