Dr. Temsula Ao laid to rest in Dimapur; brief biography of Padma Shri awardee

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Oct. 10 (EMN): Padma Shri Dr. Temsula Ao was laid rest in Dimapur after a brief funeral service at her residence in Lengrijan Colony on Monday.

Ao, who was a renowned poet, scholar, novelist and ethnographer, and served the people in various capacities including chairperson of the Nagaland State Commission for Women (NSCW), passed away at Eden Medical Centre Dimapur on Sunday.

She was 80 and is survived by three daughters and a son, who is also the Director General of Police, Nagaland, T John Longkumer, and 10 grand children.

Speaking at the funeral service, Longkumer said that his mother introduced him to the sound of jazz music when he was a kid; that she had a very ecstatic taste in music and was also a good singer.

“Poetry defines her life, she loved it, she wrote it, she lived it,” Longkumer said.

During the funeral service, a member of Dimapur Changki Senso Telongjem said the deceased was a very patient and resolute woman, and a teacher in the ‘real sense’.

Ao was a humble human being who was approachable abd a good listener, the member said, adding: “It’s a great loss not only for the Nagas but also for the humanity.”

The family members of the deceased, neighbours and Changkiri kidong (clan) also shared messages at the funeral service.

Brief biography of Dr. Temsula Ao

Dr. Temsula Ao was the daughter of Imnamütongba Changkiri and Nokintemla Longkumer, and was the last surviving member of six siblings, before her passing.

She passed her matriculation in 1959 with distinction in History from Mission School, Golaghat Assam; Intermediate in 1962 with 1st Division from Fazl Ali College; BA in 1971 with distinction in English and top three position in Nagaland University; and MA in 1973, top two position from Guwahati University, Assam. She also held Diploma in Teaching English 1974-75 from CIEFL, Hyderabad.

She joined North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in December 1975 as a lecturer and retired as a professor and dean in the department of English, School of Humanities and Education, NEHU, Shillong. Ao obtained her PhD in 1983 from NEHU and was a Fulbright Fellow in the University of Minnesota 1985-1986.

The Padma Shri awardee also served as director of North East Zone Cultural Centre Dimapur from 1992 to 1997 on deputation from NEHU.

She published five book of poems, a book on Henry James and Ao-Naga Oral Tradition; and also short stories called “These Hills I call Home: Stories from a War Zone” published by Zubaan-Penguin, 2006, which has also been translated into Assamese. The story ‘The Last Song’ from the same book has also been translated into German and published in an anthology.

A number of her poems have also been featured in several anthologies and some have been translated into Bengali and Hindi.

Some of her poems are prescribed texts in the MA English syllabus of Nagaland University and M Phil English syllabus of NEHU. She has an entry on Folklore of Nagaland in the Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folk Life, Westport Connecticut.

Her book, the Ao-Naga Oral Tradition 1999 has been included among the titles of Sangharsh Shatak compiled by Bhasha Publication and her second book of short stories ‘Tombstone in My Garden’ was published in 2022. 

She was awarded the Padma Shri for Education and Literature in 2007, Nagaland’s Governor’s Award for distinction in literature in 2009, Governor’s Gold medal in 2009 from government of Meghalaya, and the Sahitya Akademi Award, 2013.