Temsula ao biography of abraham

Indian writer (1945–2022)

Temsüla Ao (25 October 1945 – 9 Oct 2022)^[2] was an Indian bard, fiction writer, and ethnographer. She was a professor of Honourably at North Eastern Hill Installation (NEHU) from where she secluded in 2010.^[3][4] She served in the same way the director of the Northbound East Zone Cultural Centre 'tween 1992 and 1997 on delegation from NEHU.^[3] She was awarded the Padma Shri award want badly her contribution to literature fairy story education.

Her book Laburnum Pursue My Head received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English handwriting in the short story category.^[5] Her works have been translated into Assamese, Bengali, French, Germanic, Hindi, and Kannada.^[6]

Biography

Early life

On 25 October 1945, Temsüla was foaled to Imnamütongba Changkiri and Nokintemla Longkumer^[7] in Jorhat.

She locked away five siblings. When her youngest brother was only beginning round off crawl, her parents died prearranged nine months of each succeeding additional. Thereafter, her youngest two siblings were taken to their long-established village Changki village in Mokokchung district to live with their father's younger brother. The one eldest siblings–Khari, Tajen, Temsüla, trip Along–stayed at Jorhat under blue blood the gentry guardianship of Khari who was temporarily employed in Jorhat Pus Hospital.

Soon, the youngest betwixt the four, Along, was very taken to Changki. When Tajen got appointed as an helpmate teacher in the village first school, he took on integrity responsibilities of the younger siblings at Changki.^[3] Ao summarises kill difficult childhood and adolescene adjoin her memoir Once upon simple Life as 'fractured childhood.' Added ancestral family were involved take delivery of the early settlement of Changki village and her visits captain affinity to the village helped her "reaffirm the sensibilities desert have given me my elemental identity."^[3]

She studied in Golaghat Girls' Mission for six years restructuring a boarder.

She studied jagged Assamese-medium there until class 6. For her matriculation exam closest, she even wrote two chronicles in the Assamese language. She spoke the language fluently. She completed her matriculation from Ridgeway Girls' High School in Golaghat.^[3] She received her B.A. in opposition to distinction from Fazl Ali Academy, Mokokchung, Nagaland, and M.A.

trudge English from Gauhati University, Province. From English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, she received coffee break Post Graduate Diploma in birth Teaching of English and PhD from NEHU.

Teaching

Ao began education English in NEHU as excellent lecturer from December 1975.^[7] She completed her PhD in Haw 1983 under the guidance position Dr.

D. P. Singh. Noble The Heroines of Henry James, her thesis examined female protagonists in James' stories who come up victorious in their sophisticated pole civilised society. For this, Ao analysed the following works classic Henry James: The Madonna look up to the Future, Daisy Miller, Madame de Mauves, Washington Square, Nobleness Portrait of a Lady, Illustriousness Wings of the Dove, coupled with The Golden Bowl.^[8]

From 1992 come into contact with 1997 she served as Administrator, North East Zone Cultural Middle, Dimapur on Deputation from NEHU, and was a Fulbright Match at the University of Minnesota 1985–86.^[9][2] In 2010, Ao isolated as a professor and histrion of the English Department dig NEHU.^[7]

Ao received the Padma Shri Award in 2007.

She level-headed the recipient of the Governor's Gold Medal 2009 from high-mindedness government of Meghalaya. She was widely respected as one doomed the major literary voices hill English to emerge from Nor'-east India along with Mitra Phukan and Mamang Dai. Her writings actions have been translated into Teutonic, French, Assamese, Bengali and Hindi.^[10]

Writings

Ao conceded to Paulo Coelho's reflection in The Zahir make certain writing can be a solitary endeavour.

However, "there are too times when words are profuse and seem to offer person happily to articulate one's thought." The resulting mood of conviviality and joy, Ao suggests, lends a strange feeling of crowd being alone. It provides undiluted sense of completeness similar join a fellowship felt in nobleness company of equally happy humans. Ao stated that she wrote for such rare moments taste "completeness." This inner urge compels her to write along exchange her need "to probe, outdo question, and also to encourage that I exist in rectitude one-ness with my fellow possibly manlike beings."^[11] Reflecting on writings wean away from Northeast India, Ao explained,

It remains about the life we identify, and want to share collect our fellow citizens who put on somehow always looked at yell through the prism of 'otherness' and suspicion.

Accepting the disagreement can also mean transcending honesty 'local' to discover the 'universal.' In that sense, these hand-outs deserve more than the outline perusals as 'categories' that they are subjected to at honourableness moment.^[11]

She resisted clubbing of dignity Northeast as a composite likeness.

She called the North-eastern lack of variety as a misnomer "because nobility region is home to simple multitude of people with multiform languages, cultures, costumes." Using leadership term, "defaces the real identity" of the communities and punters living in the region. Consequently, the term has relevance solitary as a geographical and geo-political indicator.

In the same catechize, she noted that Nagaland's Hornbill Festival is only the advertisement face of Naga identity service not Naga identity itself.^[12] Member of the fourth estate Patricia Mukhim reaffirmed Ao's expectation, "[She] was quietly confident lead to her purpose in life which is to rectify the lenses through which her people, leadership Nagas, were viewed by integrity rest of the world."^[13]

Poetry

She has published seven poetic works.

• Songs that Tell (1988),
• Songs that Wrinkle to Say (1992),
• Songs of Haunt Moods (1995),
• Songs from Here increase in intensity There (2003),
• Songs From The Attention Life (2007).^[1]
• Book of Songs: Sedate Poems 1988-2007 (2013).
• Songs along picture Way Home (2019).^[14]

Her first cardinal poetry collections were published unfamiliar Writers Workshop, Kolkata.

The bag, fourth, and fifth poetry collections were published by Kohima Sahitya Sabha, North Eastern Hill Institution and Grasswork Books respectively. Blue blood the gentry last two were published close to Heritage Publishing House, Dimapur.

Journalist Aheli Moitra describes the 50-poem collection Songs along the Correspondingly Home as "a deep scholarly exploration of life–personal, social, political–as it has passed her [Ao] by.

The poems are immense, laden with layers of bewail, written with the skill go along with a songbird singing its salute dusk song." Moitra points go off Ao is candid in respite poems, registering life and comprehension, and never shy of presentation emotions necessary.^[14]

Ethnography

When she was replace the University of Minnesota kind a Fulbright fellow, she came in contact with the Indigenous Americans.

She learned about their culture, heritage and especially their oral tradition. This exposure of genius her to record the vocal tradition of her own human beings, Ao Naga. After returning foreign the University of Minnesota, she worked on the oral lore for about twelve years. She collected the myths, folktales, lore, rituals, law, custom, belief way.

This ethnographic work was accessible in 1999 as the Ao-Naga oral tradition from Bhasha Publications, Baroda. This book is greatness most authentic document about interpretation Ao-Naga community.

Short story

Temsüla Ao has published three short narrative collections. These Hills Called Home: Stories from the War Zone, Zubaan (2005), Laburnum for grim Head, Penguin India (2009)^[1] contemporary The Tombstone in my Garden: Stories from Nagaland,Speaking Tiger Books (2022).^[15]

These Hills Called Home consists of ten short stories distinguished deals with insurgency in Nagaland fired by right to autonomy of the Naga people.

Speaking Tiger published her last accurate of short stories The Gravestone in my Garden: Stories running off Nagaland in early 2022.^[16][15] Significance book blurb on the influx cover describes the collection have a hold over five stories as holding 'a mirror to the lives method everyday people beyond the headlines.'

On 9 April 2022, Nagaland Director General of Police, Well-organized John Longkumer, released the make a reservation in Dimapur.^[6]

Pradip Phanjoubam found prestige book peculiarly 'dark' compared handle her debut collection These Hills Called Home. He summarises probity book as 'a subconscious depict of the Naga nostalgia tail a traditional world being stay poised behind.'^[17] Author Rupa Gulab summarises the central thread of excellence five stories as, "we complete brutally reminded of a prevailing truth: Love hurts, and carnage is a release." Advising wreck presuming that the small manual is cosy bedtime book, she points that the stories shard 'disconcerting' with endings of dressing-down often open pushing the readers to keep guessing.^[18]

Literary criticism

She available a book of literary disapproval Henry James' Quest for set Ideal Heroine.

It was obtainable in 1989 from Writers Workshop.^[19]

Online works

Books

• Laburnum for My Head (Penguin, 2009)
• These Hills Called Home: Made-up From A War Zone (Penguin, 2005 / Zubaan, 2013)
• Ao-Naga Uttered Tradition (2000)

Memoir

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

Nagaland State Commission for Women

In January 2013, she was determined as the Chairperson of significance Nagaland State Commission for Women.^[22] As the chairperson, Ao was very vocal for women's assertion in the state often provocative traditional status quo and lawful stalemate.

Naga Customary Law

Ao advocated for redefining Naga Usual Law to remove its latent gender bias. She made protect clear that this did whine mean abolishing of Customary Lyrics and they remain the footing of Naga society. Instead, full needed to be redone promote changed to give new purpose in the present milieu. Righteousness redefinition must begin from clandestine the patriarchal settings of commonplace law institutions as they latest 'the custodians of the laws'.

She also envisioned a specific focus to make way dilemma women into village councils, inner-city committees, and Nagaland Legislative Unit along with women's inheritance get parental property.^[23] It was fair to her that civil the people interventions or government efforts concerning promote gender equality would mass change much despite gender monetary and gender-safe workplaces,

Whatever the makings the results of such efforts, they will be superficial unexpected result best because the core make a rough draft gender discrimination lies at representation very heart of customary work which direct and govern Kamarupan life even in the 21st century.^[23]

In 2013, at one pale her first public meetings occupation the position, she called detachment and girls to play their part with conviction in primacy bid to make statutory engage for gender justice work.

She was addressing a legal knowingness campaign at Kohima College. She called the campaign to disclose young students to not matchless give security to their 'physical selves but to ensure their intellectual growth.' While appreciating zigzag certain social evils prevalent made known in the country does scream exist in Nagaland, she articulate that prevalent gender injustice bank on the Naga society is terminate to men persisting in their rigid stance that "governance, approximating the village council and put an end to making in the family lease instance, is the prerogative be frightened of men." She also chided unit for accepting their traditional duty despite education.^[24] Ao made bothered her support for customary handle roughly and practices and hailed them for providing "continuity and strength" to the Naga society.

However, her critique meek in the inherent gender staunchness in customary law practices dependably cases of marriage, divorce add-on inheritance. She called for eruption deliberations on these issues stake out "incorporating changes and fair adjustments in a modern set-up which will be beneficial to brigade, and where men and brigade can work together as equals in all respect."^[25] She bushed a significant part of will not hear of tenure relaying this message curry favor different tribes of Nagaland flat their respective districts.

In Grand 2013, at a seminar zephyr gender sensitisation among police force, judiciary, and civil society workers, Ao boldly stated, "Only as the basic human rights be alarmed about the Naga women get absurd acknowledgement from the family, dynasty, village, and the overall collective framework, can we say saunter the process of gender predisposition has truly started in Nagaland." She recalled that several investment of gender injustice exist captive the Naga society due maneuver the "cultural and traditional norms prevalent...

[often impinging] on women's rights, for being of dialect trig different gender." She called parade articulation and protection of women's identity at "the very empiric level." She called for establishment shelter homes in every community in Nagaland for survivors brake gender violence to deal join trauma, provide counselling, and edify livelihood skills.^[26] In September 2013, drawing from her experiences, she noted that cases of spousal discord in Nagaland mostly make public unheard and unattended as probity woman is often too traumatised.^[27]

At the start of her label as the chairperson, she esoteric initiated dialogues between the peak bodies of all tribes state under oath Nagaland in this regard.

Fin years later, in 2018, she lamented that work around abrasive women a share in their parental property still remained half-done.^[23]

Human Trafficking

On 28 May 2017, weightiness a programme on Human Moonshine in Phek district of Nagaland, she emphasised the vulnerability achieve Nagas youth to being trafficked.

She called the society save be vigilant. She called mass to report cases of habit and ill-treatment of minors woodland as maids and domestic helps in Nagaland. She believed zigzag the evil had to emerging investigated and addressed urgently.^[28] Impinge on another meeting early in glory month, she referred to control data that showed that a-okay person went missing every station day in Nagaland.

Of these, 83% of missing people were minors. She pointed out walk customary law are not well-equipped to deal with practices comatose human trafficking and police wanted to intervene and play fastidious role. She also insisted allege proper links between police, toddler rights agencies, labour department, public welfare departments, mental health agencies, and NGOs to curb anthropoid trafficking.^[29]

Women's reservation

She was a amusing supporter of women's reservation make the addition of Nagaland.

Speaking at an carnival, she promised to continue snip work for equal rights round out women and hoped women come in decision-making process in Naga government policy. She invited Nagas to looking back the areas where "we enjoy failed."^[30]

Awards

Legacy

Zahan writes that Ao was more than a penman and scholar for the Nagas.

She summarises Ao's work as,

She was the guardian, the words, and the mirror of birth Naga society who brought greatness everyday lives of the Nagas blurred between insurgency and counter-insurgency in front of the faux through her poetry, short n and memoirs.^[13]

Recalling her body befit work and life, Walter Fernandes, founder-director of the North Feel one\'s way Social Research Centre based constant worry Guwahati, called her an "institution of a scholar."^[13]

See also

References

External links