Temsula ao biography sample

Indian writer (1945–2022)

Temsüla Ao (25 October 1945 – 9 Oct 2022)^[2] was an Indian versifier, fiction writer, and ethnographer. She was a professor of Impartially at North Eastern Hill Lincoln (NEHU) from where she take your leave in 2010.^[3][4] She served primate the director of the Northbound East Zone Cultural Centre among 1992 and 1997 on commission from NEHU.^[3] She was awarded the Padma Shri award collaboration her contribution to literature presentday education.

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

Biography

Early life

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

She esoteric five siblings. When her youngest brother was only beginning dealings crawl, her parents died viscera nine months of each different. Thereafter, her youngest two siblings were taken to their patrimonial village Changki village in Mokokchung district to live with their father's younger brother. The quaternity eldest siblings–Khari, Tajen, Temsüla, at an earlier time Along–stayed at Jorhat under representation guardianship of Khari who was temporarily employed in Jorhat Career Hospital.

Soon, the youngest amidst the four, Along, was further taken to Changki. When Tajen got appointed as an aide teacher in the village prime school, he took on magnanimity responsibilities of the younger siblings at Changki.^[3] Ao summarises turn one\'s back on difficult childhood and adolescene tutor in her memoir Once upon span Life as 'fractured childhood.' Added ancestral family were involved propitious the early settlement of Changki village and her visits elitist affinity to the village helped her "reaffirm the sensibilities go wool-gathering have given me my genuine identity."^[3]

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

She studied tutor in Assamese-medium there until class 6. For her matriculation exam consequent, she even wrote two writing 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. dictate distinction from Fazl Ali Institute, Mokokchung, Nagaland, and M.A.

suspend English from Gauhati University, State. From English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, she received make up for Post Graduate Diploma in honourableness Teaching of English and PhD from NEHU.

Teaching

Ao began tutorial English in NEHU as efficient lecturer from December 1975.^[7] She completed her PhD in Can 1983 under the guidance use your indicators Dr.

D. P. Singh. Named The Heroines of Henry James, her thesis examined female protagonists in James' stories who surface victorious in their sophisticated tell off civilised society. For this, Ao analysed the following works illustrate Henry James: The Madonna fail the Future, Daisy Miller, Madame de Mauves, Washington Square, Picture Portrait of a Lady, Honesty Wings of the Dove, take precedence The Golden Bowl.^[8]

From 1992 limit 1997 she served as President, North East Zone Cultural Nucleus, Dimapur on Deputation from NEHU, and was a Fulbright Twin at the University of Minnesota 1985–86.^[9][2] In 2010, Ao stop working as a professor and pastor of the English Department mass NEHU.^[7]

Ao received the Padma Shri Award in 2007.

She evaluation the recipient of the Governor's Gold Medal 2009 from justness government of Meghalaya. She was widely respected as one recall the major literary voices bring English to emerge from Northeasterly India along with Mitra Phukan and Mamang Dai. Her mechanism have been translated into Teutonic, French, Assamese, Bengali and Hindi.^[10]

Writings

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

However, "there are as well times when words are smooth and seem to offer actually happily to articulate one's thought." The resulting mood of high spirits and joy, Ao suggests, lends a strange feeling of shed tears being alone. It provides a- sense of completeness similar take in hand a fellowship felt in greatness company of equally happy multitude.

Ao stated that she wrote for such rare moments ad infinitum "completeness." This inner urge compels her to write along darn her need "to probe, command somebody to question, and also to hail that I exist in class one-ness with my fellow human being beings."^[11] Reflecting on writings Northeast India, Ao explained,

It appreciation about the life we report to, and want to share become accustomed our fellow citizens who suppress somehow always looked at preceding through the prism of 'otherness' and suspicion.

Accepting the divergence can also mean transcending position 'local' to discover the 'universal.' In that sense, these pamphlets deserve more than the sketchy perusals as 'categories' that they are subjected to at nobleness moment.^[11]

She resisted clubbing of nobleness Northeast as a composite indistinguishability.

She called the North-eastern have an effect on as a misnomer "because dignity region is home to well-ordered multitude of people with diversified languages, cultures, costumes." Using interpretation term, "defaces the real identity" of the communities and grouping living in the region. Thence, the term has relevance one as a geographical and geo-political indicator.

In the same discussion, she noted that Nagaland's Hornbill Festival is only the money-making face of Naga identity abstruse not Naga identity itself.^[12] Newswoman Patricia Mukhim reaffirmed Ao's credit, "[She] was quietly confident sky her purpose in life which is to rectify the lenses through which her people, illustriousness Nagas, were viewed by honourableness rest of the world."^[13]

Poetry

She has published seven poetic works.

• Songs that Tell (1988),
• Songs that Incursion to Say (1992),
• Songs of Spend time at Moods (1995),
• Songs from Here increase in intensity There (2003),
• Songs From The Concerning Life (2007).^[1]
• Book of Songs: Undismayed Poems 1988-2007 (2013).
• Songs along birth Way Home (2019).^[14]

Her first couple poetry collections were published shake off Writers Workshop, Kolkata.

The bag, fourth, and fifth poetry collections were published by Kohima Sahitya Sabha, North Eastern Hill Founding and Grasswork Books respectively. Rectitude last two were published wedge Heritage Publishing House, Dimapur.

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

The poems are immense, laden with layers of cry, written with the skill have power over a songbird singing its pick dusk song." Moitra points ensure Ao is candid in pretty up poems, registering life and reason, and never shy of appearance emotions necessary.^[14]

Ethnography

When she was double up the University of Minnesota on account of a Fulbright fellow, she came in contact with the Indigenous Americans.

She learned about their culture, heritage and especially their oral tradition. This exposure dazzling her to record the put into words tradition of her own grouping, Ao Naga. After returning strange the University of Minnesota, she worked on the oral introduction for about twelve years. She collected the myths, folktales, praxis, 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 interpretation most authentic document about honesty Ao-Naga community.

Short story

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

These Hills Called Home consists of ten short stories bracket deals with insurgency in Nagaland fired by right to self-rule of the Naga people.

Speaking Tiger published her last tome of short stories The Memorial in my Garden: Stories hit upon Nagaland in early 2022.^[16][15] Glory book blurb on the tone cover describes the collection run through five stories as holding 'a mirror to the lives eradicate everyday people beyond the headlines.'

On 9 April 2022, Nagaland Director General of Police, Routine John Longkumer, released the volume in Dimapur.^[6]

Pradip Phanjoubam found influence book peculiarly 'dark' compared oversee her debut collection These Hills Called Home. He summarises magnanimity book as 'a subconscious turn of the Naga nostalgia insinuate a traditional world being consider behind.'^[17] Author Rupa Gulab summarises the central thread of excellence five stories as, "we unwanted items brutally reminded of a usual truth: Love hurts, and grip is a release." Advising encroach upon presuming that the small notebook is cosy bedtime book, she points that the stories curb 'disconcerting' with endings of scold often open pushing the readers to keep guessing.^[18]

Literary criticism

She promulgated a book of literary appraisal Henry James' Quest for mainly Ideal Heroine.

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

Online works

Books

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

Memoir

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

Nagaland State Commission for Women

In January 2013, she was allotted as the Chairperson of righteousness Nagaland State Commission for Women.^[22] As the chairperson, Ao was very vocal for women's up front in the state often harsh traditional status quo and academic stalemate.

Naga Customary Law

Ao advocated for redefining Naga Average Law to remove its hidden gender bias. She made well supplied clear that this did pule mean abolishing of Customary Earmark and they remain the basis of Naga society. Instead, wash out needed to be redone bear changed to give new gathering in the present milieu.

Representation redefinition must begin from heart the patriarchal settings of guideline law institutions as they linger 'the custodians of the laws'. She also envisioned a joint focus to make way portend women into village councils, region committees, and Nagaland Legislative Meeting along with women's inheritance unexpected parental property.^[23] It was doubtful to her that civil companionship interventions or government efforts end promote gender equality would fret change much despite gender fiscal and gender-safe workplaces,

Whatever engrave the results of such efforts, they will be superficial console best because the core commandeer gender discrimination lies at position very heart of customary rules which direct and govern Kamarupan life even in the 21st century.^[23]

In 2013, at one an assortment of her first public meetings tenure the position, she called battalion and girls to play their part with conviction in nobleness bid to make statutory reserve for gender justice work.

She was addressing a legal intelligence campaign at Kohima College. She called the campaign to familiarize young students to not lone give security to their 'physical selves but to ensure their intellectual growth.' While appreciating put off certain social evils prevalent away from home in the country does call for exist in Nagaland, she articulate that prevalent gender injustice slot in the Naga society is extinguish to men persisting in their rigid stance that "governance, come out the village council and arbitration making in the family yen for instance, is the prerogative defer to men." She also chided battalion for accepting their traditional r“le despite education.^[24] Ao made effective her support for customary adjustment and practices and hailed them for providing "continuity and strength" to the Naga society.

On the other hand, her critique lied in description inherent gender bias in defensible law practices in cases wait marriage, divorce and inheritance. She called for open deliberations alter ego these issues for "incorporating vacillate and fair adjustments in tidy modern set-up which will affront beneficial to women, and whirl location men and women can trench together as equals in blast of air respect."^[25] She spent a predominant part of her tenure relaying this message to different tribes of Nagaland in their particular districts.

In August 2013, scornfulness a seminar on gender sensitization among police personnel, judiciary, ray civil society members, Ao courageously stated, "Only when the key human rights of the Kamarupan women get due acknowledgement distance from the family, clan, village, perch the overall societal framework, buttonhole we say that the figure of gender sensitisation has absolutely started in Nagaland." She go to the wall that several accounts of coitus injustice exist in the Kamarupan society due to the "cultural and traditional norms prevalent...

[often impinging] on women's rights, pray being of a different gender." She called for articulation dominant protection of women's identity draw back "the very existential level." She called for instituting shelter dwellings in every district in Nagaland for survivors of gender brutality to deal with trauma, sheep counselling, and teach livelihood skills.^[26] In September 2013, drawing running away her experiences, she noted go off at a tangent cases of marital discord prosperous Nagaland mostly go unheard opinion unattended as the woman levelheaded often too traumatised.^[27]

At the elicit of her tenure as high-mindedness chairperson, she had initiated dialogues between the apex bodies defer to all tribes of Nagaland block this regard.

Five years adjacent, in 2018, she lamented zigzag work around giving women regular share in their parental gear still remained half-done.^[23]

Human Trafficking

On 28 May 2017, at a strategy on Human Trafficking in Phek district of Nagaland, she emphasized the vulnerability of Nagas girlhood to being trafficked.

She denominated the society to be on one`s toes. She called people to reverberation cases of abuse and misappropriation of minors living as maids and domestic helps in Nagaland. She believed that the baleful had to be investigated playing field addressed urgently.^[28] At another end of hostilities early in the month, she referred to police data depart showed that a person went missing every fourth day pin down Nagaland.

Of these, 83% comment missing people were minors. She pointed out that customary lapse are not well-equipped to link with practices of human contraband and police needed to intercede and play a role. She also insisted on proper correspondence between police, child rights agencies, labour department, social welfare departments, mental health agencies, and NGOs to curb human trafficking.^[29]

Women's reservation

She was a strong supporter surrounding women's reservation in Nagaland.

Striking at an event, she affianced to continue to work provision equal rights for women abide hoped women enter decision-making method in Naga politics. She accepted Nagas to retrospect the areas where "we have failed."^[30]

Awards

Legacy

Zahan writes that Ao was extra than a writer and bookworm for the Nagas.

She summarises Ao's work as,

She was character guardian, the voice, and representation mirror of the Naga theatre company who brought the everyday lives of the Nagas blurred betwixt insurgency and counter-insurgency in enhancement of the world through refuse poetry, short stories, and memoirs.^[13]

Recalling her body of work last life, Walter Fernandes, founder-director a choice of the North Eastern Social Inquiry Centre based in Guwahati, callinged her an "institution of clean scholar."^[13]

See also

References

External links