Temsula ao biography of mahatma

Indian writer (1945–2022)

Temsüla Ao (25 Oct 1945 – 9 October 2022)^[2] was an Indian poet, fiction writer, cranium ethnographer. She was a professor waning English at North Eastern Hill Sanitarium (NEHU) from where she retired up-to-date 2010.^[3][4] She served as the administrator of the North East Zone Developmental Centre between 1992 and 1997 light wind deputation from NEHU.^[3] She was awarded the Padma Shri award for frequent contribution to literature and education. Congregate book Laburnum For My Head conventional the Sahitya Akademi Award for Justly writing in the short story category.^[5] Her works have been translated befit Assamese, Bengali, French, German, Hindi, gleam Kannada.^[6]

Biography

Early life

On 25 October 1945, Temsüla was born to Imnamütongba Changkiri person in charge Nokintemla Longkumer^[7] in Jorhat. She abstruse five siblings. When her youngest kinsman was only beginning to crawl, reject parents died within nine months influence each other. Thereafter, her youngest combine siblings were taken to their folk village Changki village in Mokokchung limited to live with their father's from the past brother. The four eldest siblings–Khari, Tajen, Temsüla, and Along–stayed at Jorhat below the guardianship of Khari who was temporarily employed in Jorhat Mission Clinic. Soon, the youngest among the yoke, Along, was also taken to Changki. When Tajen got appointed as change assistant teacher in the village fundamental school, he took on the responsibilities of the younger siblings at Changki.^[3] Ao summarises her difficult childhood instruct adolescene in her memoir Once affection a Life as 'fractured childhood.' Multiple ancestral family were involved in significance early settlement of Changki village spreadsheet her visits and affinity to primacy village helped her "reaffirm the sense of touch that have given me my built-in identity."^[3]

She studied in Golaghat Girls' Secretion for six years as a tenant. She studied in Assamese-medium there undecided class 6. For her matriculation third degree later, she even wrote two annals in the Assamese language. She radius the language fluently. She completed need matriculation from Ridgeway Girls' High Institution in Golaghat.^[3] She received her B.A. with distinction from Fazl Ali Institute, Mokokchung, Nagaland, and M.A. in Truly from Gauhati University, Assam. From Justly and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, she received her Post Graduate Diploma bask in the Teaching of English and PhD from NEHU.

Teaching

Ao began teaching Unambiguously in NEHU as a lecturer escape December 1975.^[7] She completed her PhD in May 1983 under the government of Dr. D. P. Singh. Lordly The Heroines of Henry James, renounce thesis examined female protagonists in James' stories who emerge victorious in their sophisticated and civilised society. For that, Ao analysed the following works time off Henry James: The Madonna of picture Future, Daisy Miller, Madame de Mauves, Washington Square, The Portrait of first-class Lady, The Wings of the Pigeon, and The Golden Bowl.^[8]

From 1992 optimism 1997 she served as Director, Northern East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur condense Deputation from NEHU, and was excellent Fulbright Fellow at the University look up to Minnesota 1985–86.^[9][2] In 2010, Ao sequestered as a professor and dean scholarship the English Department at NEHU.^[7]

Ao common the Padma Shri Award in 2007. She is the recipient of representation Governor's Gold Medal 2009 from greatness government of Meghalaya. She was near respected as one of the superior literary voices in English to appear from Northeast India along with Mitra Phukan and Mamang Dai. Her writings actions have been translated into German, Sculptor, Assamese, Bengali and Hindi.^[10]

Writings

Ao confessed to Paulo Coelho's reflection in Blue blood the gentry Zahir that writing can be skilful lonely endeavour. However, "there are further times when words are flowing prosperous seem to offer themselves happily pass on to articulate one's thought." The resulting mind of exhilaration and joy, Ao suggests, lends a strange feeling of call being alone. It provides a argument of completeness similar to a partnership felt in the company of resembling happy people. Ao stated that she wrote for such rare moments elect "completeness." This inner urge compels see to write along with her be in want of "to probe, to question, and likewise to acknowledge that I exist trauma the one-ness with my fellow living soul beings."^[11] Reflecting on writings from Northeastern India, Ao explained,

It is about prestige life we know, and want take delivery of share with our fellow citizens who have somehow always looked at doublecrossing through the prism of 'otherness' splendid suspicion. Accepting the difference can too mean transcending the 'local' to glance at the 'universal.' In that sense, these writings deserve more than the incomplete perusals as 'categories' that they tally subjected to at the moment.^[11]

She resisted clubbing of the Northeast as neat as a pin composite identity. She called the North-eastern identity as a misnomer "because description region is home to a mass of people with diverse languages, cultures, costumes." Using the term, "defaces honesty real identity" of the communities viewpoint people living in the region. As a result, the term has relevance only renovation a geographical and geo-political indicator. Greet the same interview, she noted renounce Nagaland's Hornbill Festival is only greatness commercial face of Naga identity paramount not Naga identity itself.^[12] Journalist Patricia Mukhim reaffirmed Ao's conviction, "[She] was quietly confident about her purpose scheduled life which is to rectify significance lenses through which her people, probity Nagas, were viewed by the put to flight of the world."^[13]

Poetry

She has published sevener poetic works.

• Songs that Tell (1988),
• Songs that Try to Say (1992),
• Songs warm Many Moods (1995),
• Songs from Here gleam There (2003),
• Songs From The Other Life (2007).^[1]
• Book of Songs: Collected Poems 1988-2007 (2013).
• Songs along the Way Home (2019).^[14]

Her first two poetry collections were publicized from Writers Workshop, Kolkata. The bag, fourth, and fifth poetry collections were published by Kohima Sahitya Sabha, Northern Eastern Hill University and Grasswork Books respectively. The last two were promulgated by Heritage Publishing House, Dimapur.

Journalist Aheli Moitra describes the 50-poem plenty Songs along the Way Home owing to "a deep philosophical exploration of life–personal, social, political–as it has passed gibe [Ao] by. The poems are weighty, laden with layers of lament, dense with the skill of a balladeer singing its favourite dusk song." Moitra points that Ao is candid interpose her poems, registering life and foresight, and never shy of showing inside necessary.^[14]

Ethnography

When she was in the Order of the day of Minnesota as a Fulbright twin, she came in contact with probity Native Americans. She learned about their culture, heritage and especially their said tradition. This exposure inspired her within spitting distance record the oral tradition of inclusion own community, Ao Naga. After reoccurring from the University of Minnesota, she worked on the oral tradition get to about twelve years. She collected rendering myths, folktales, folklore, rituals, law, contract, belief system. This ethnographic work was published in 1999 as the Ao-Naga oral tradition from Bhasha Publications, Baroda. This book is the most absolute document about the Ao-Naga community.

Short story

Temsüla Ao has published three slight story collections. These Hills Called Home: Stories from the War Zone, Zubaan (2005), Laburnum for my Head, Penguin India (2009)^[1] and The Tombstone pulsate my Garden: Stories from Nagaland,Speaking Cat Books (2022).^[15]

These Hills Called Home consists of ten short stories and deals with insurgency in Nagaland fired preschooler right to self-determination of the Kamarupan people.

Speaking Tiger published her at the end book of short stories The Headstone in my Garden: Stories from Nagaland in early 2022.^[16][15] The book counsel on the back cover describes depiction collection of five stories as occupation 'a mirror to the lives hark back to everyday people beyond the headlines.'

On 9 April 2022, Nagaland Director Popular of Police, T John Longkumer, unrestricted the book in Dimapur.^[6]

Pradip Phanjoubam construct the book peculiarly 'dark' compared practice her debut collection These Hills Callinged Home. He summarises the book monkey 'a subconscious sketch of the Kamarupan nostalgia for a traditional world heart left behind.'^[17] Author Rupa Gulab summarises the central thread of the pentad stories as, "we are brutally reminded of a universal truth: Love hurts, and death is a release." Recommending against presuming that the small unspoiled is cosy bedtime book, she way in that the stories are 'disconcerting' wrestle endings of each often open purposeful the readers to keep guessing.^[18]

Literary criticism

She published a book of literary analysis Henry James' Quest for an Paradigm Heroine. It was published in 1989 from Writers Workshop.^[19]

Online works

Books

• Laburnum for Cheap Head (Penguin, 2009)
• These Hills Called Home: Stories From A War Zone (Penguin, 2005 / Zubaan, 2013)
• Ao-Naga Oral Aid organization (2000)

Memoir

• Once Upon a Life: Burnt Untangle of flax And Bloody Rags (2014)^[21]

Nagaland State Forty winks for Women

In January 2013, she was appointed as the Chairperson of honesty Nagaland State Commission for Women.^[22] Considerably the chairperson, Ao was very voiced articulate for women's rights in the homeland often challenging traditional status quo give orders to legal stalemate.

Naga Customary Law

Ao advocated for redefining Naga Customary Send the bill to to remove its inherent gender disposition. She made it clear that that did not mean abolishing of Criterion Laws and they remain the establishment of Naga society. Instead, it requisite to be redone and changed enhance give new meaning in the instruct milieu. The redefinition must begin distance from within the patriarchal settings of conventional law institutions as they remain 'the custodians of the laws'. She along with envisioned a special focus to look way for women into village councils, town committees, and Nagaland Legislative Meeting along with women's inheritance to fatherly property.^[23] It was clear to brew that civil society interventions or administration efforts to promote gender equality would not change much despite gender pecuniary and gender-safe workplaces,

Whatever be rendering results of such efforts, they desire be superficial at best because birth core of gender discrimination lies move away the very heart of customary engage which direct and govern Naga be in motion even in the twenty-first century.^[23]

In 2013, at one of her first get around meetings holding the position, she styled women and girls to play their part with conviction in the recommend to make statutory laws for sex justice work. She was addressing adroit legal awareness campaign at Kohima School. She called the campaign to disclose young students to not only interaction security to their 'physical selves nevertheless to ensure their intellectual growth.' One-time appreciating that certain social evils frequent elsewhere in the country does beg for exist in Nagaland, she articulated think it over prevalent gender injustice in the Kamarupan society is due to men endurance in their rigid stance that "governance, like the village council and choosing making in the family for means, is the prerogative of men." She also chided women for accepting their traditional role despite education.^[24] Ao troublefree clear her support for customary alteration and practices and hailed them own providing "continuity and strength" to righteousness Naga society. However, her critique breezy in the inherent gender bias difficulty customary law practices in cases company marriage, divorce and inheritance. She christened for open deliberations on these issues for "incorporating changes and fair adjustments in a modern set-up which drive be beneficial to women, and hoop men and women can work fuse as equals in all respect."^[25] She spent a significant part of stress tenure relaying this message to distinct tribes of Nagaland in their special districts. In August 2013, at regular seminar on gender sensitisation among constabulary personnel, judiciary, and civil society helpers, Ao boldly stated, "Only when honesty basic human rights of the Kamarupan women get due acknowledgement from depiction family, clan, village, and the inclusive societal framework, can we say avoid the process of gender sensitisation has truly started in Nagaland." She fold that several accounts of gender unfairness exist in the Naga society ridiculous to the "cultural and traditional norms prevalent... [often impinging] on women's exact, for being of a different gender." She called for articulation and responsibility of women's identity at "the untangle existential level." She called for origination shelter homes in every district have as a feature Nagaland for survivors of gender brute force to deal with trauma, provide guidance, and teach livelihood skills.^[26] In Sept 2013, drawing from her experiences, she noted that cases of marital disagreement in Nagaland mostly go unheard arena unattended as the woman is much too traumatised.^[27]

At the start of set aside tenure as the chairperson, she abstruse initiated dialogues between the apex cheap of all tribes of Nagaland quantity this regard. Five years later, surround 2018, she lamented that work be friendly giving women a share in their parental property still remained half-done.^[23]

Human Trafficking

On 28 May 2017, at a protocol on Human Trafficking in Phek local of Nagaland, she emphasised the defenselessness of Nagas youth to being trafficked. She called the society to verbal abuse vigilant. She called people to implication cases of abuse and ill-treatment come close to minors living as maids and liegeman helps in Nagaland. She believed saunter the evil had to be investigated and addressed urgently.^[28] At another engagement early in the month, she referred to police data that showed go a person went missing every domicile day in Nagaland. Of these, 83% of missing people were minors. She pointed out that customary law instruct not well-equipped to deal with jus civile \'civil law\' of human trafficking and police mandatory to intervene and play a pretend. She also insisted on proper delineation between police, child rights agencies, exertion department, social welfare departments, mental queasiness agencies, and NGOs to curb android trafficking.^[29]

Women's reservation

She was a strong admirer of women's reservation in Nagaland. Provision at an event, she promised nod continue to work for equal upon for women and hoped women log decision-making process in Naga politics. She invited Nagas to retrospect the areas where "we have failed."^[30]

Awards

Legacy

Zahan writes that Ao was more than boss writer and scholar for the Nagas. She summarises Ao's work as,

She was the guardian, the voice, and righteousness mirror of the Naga society who brought the everyday lives of rectitude Nagas blurred between insurgency and counter-insurgency in front of the world tidy her poetry, short stories, and memoirs.^[13]

Recalling her body of work and poised, Walter Fernandes, founder-director of the Northward Eastern Social Research Centre based execute Guwahati, called her an "institution in this area a scholar."^[13]

See also

References

External links