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On Monday, PM Narendra Modi expressed his sorrow at the passing of renowned Indian artist Temsula Ao, noting that the Padma Shri recipient’s literary contributions were instrumental in promoting Naga culture. Temsula Ao’s death is mourned by PM Modi, who also remembers her work to promote Naga culture. Temecula Ao, a 77-year-old poet & scholar from Nagaland who wrote in English, passed away Sunday evening at a hospital near Dimapur.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- In 2007, Dr. Temsula Ao, a well-known author in the Northeast, received the Padma Shri Award.
- She received the Sahitya Akademi Prize, the Meghalaya Governor’s Gold Medal, and the Nagaland Governor’s Award for Excellence in Literature.
- She taught at North Eastern Hills University for about half her life (NEHU).
- A professor of English & dean of the School of Arts and Education NEHU, she left her position in 2010.
- Her literary works are said to have been transcribed into Bengali, Hindi, Assamese, German, and French.
Padma Shri Dr. Temsula Ao passes away
Temecula Ao, a Nagaland native and winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award for Literature, one of the foremost authors of Northeast India, passed away suddenly on October 9 in a hospital in Dimapur. She was 77. She received her undergraduate degree from Mokokchung’s Fazl Ali College, her master’s from Gauhati University, and her Ph.D. from North Eastern Hill Institution, Shillong.
In Shillong, she also served as the department’s chair and dean of the department of humanities & education until retiring in 2010. Temecula Ao, one of the foremost writers in the Northeast, won the Padma Shri (2007) for writing and teaching and the Sahitya Medal (2013) in English to Laburnum for My Head.
In 2009, she was also given the Governor’s Award. She held many positions, including director of a Northeast Area Cultural Village and chair of a Nagaland Commission for Women. Her writings have been translated into other languages, including German, French, Assamese, Bengali, and Hindi.
Padma awards
One of India’s highest civilian honours, the Padma Awards, is presented every year on the night of Republic Day. Three types of awards are given: the Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), the Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher level), and the Padma Shri (outstanding service). The award aims to honour accomplishments across all professions or spheres of endeavour when a component of government service is present.
The Padma Awards Council, which the Prime Minister appoints annually, makes recommendations before the Padma Awards are given out. The public may participate in the nomination process.
Temsula Ao
Well-known Indian poet, storyteller, and ethnographer Temsula Ao also published short stories. Because of her recent death, she has been making the headlines. On October 25, 1945, she was born in Jorhat, Assam. She has five siblings.
Ridgeway Girls’ High School in Golaghat is where she attended school. She then earned an honours B.A. at Fazl Ali College, Mokokchung, Nagaland. She afterward studied at Gauhati University in Assam for her M.A. in English. She earned a Ph.D. from NEHU and a Post-Graduate Diploma in English Language Teaching from the English & Foreign Languages Institute, Hyderabad.
While on assignment from NEHU, she served as the director of a North East Region Cultural Centre at Dimapur from 1992 to 1997. She served as a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Minnesota from 1985 to 1986. She died in Dimapur, Nagaland, India, on October 9, 2022. She was 77 years old when she passed away.
About Career
Throughout her career, Temsula Ao from northeast India has distinguished herself as a poet & short story author. In addition to “Songs that Tell” (1988), “Songs that Try to Say” (1992), “Songs of Many Moods” (1995), “Songs from Here and There” (2003), and “Songs From The More Life,” she has also released seven other literary works (2007). She later released “Book of Songs: Selected Poems 1988-2007” in 2013. She released “Songs Along the Way Home” in 2019. (2019).
She has two short story collections published, including “The Tomb in my Garden: Stories of Nagaland, Speaking Tiger Books,” “Laburnum for my Head,” and “These Hills Returned Home: Stories from War Zone,” all by Penguin India (2022).
The Ao-Naga oral tradition, the result of her anthropological research as an ethnographer, was published in 1999 by Bhasha Publishers, Baroda. This book contains the most detailed description of the Ao-Naga community. Temsula Ao also worked at North Eastern Hill Institute (NEHU), and she taught English from 1975 till her retirement.
