EMN
Dimapur, October 18
Department of English, Kohima College, Kohima, has organized a lecture programme titled ‘Naga writers speak-1st Series: Temsula Ao on her writings,’ on October 17 for the faculty and in particular the English honors students of the college.
The acclaimed writer in the course of her lecture detailed on the definition of oral tradition in its broad perspectives which we the Nagas lamentably conceive of as merely some folklores and folktales. Stating that Nagas lack in tangible culture, she said the rich store of our intangible culture such as language, indigenous knowledge, culturally significant landscapes, and folk stories inherited from the past generation should be maintained in the present and restored for future generation.Also asserting that Nagas are still not fully engaged with the task of looking deep into our origin, she urged the youngsters to keep their eyes and ears open to jot down when something of traditional value is said by elders to use it as fodder to generate one’s thinking and rationalization and to perpetuate our culture.
Reciting one of her poem ‘The Old Story –Teller,’ she added that our folk tales and folklores might appear simple on the surface but has deep inner meaning of great value. She said it contained codes of moral behavior and teaches us how to live for which we should respect the wisdom of our folktales and folklores.
Further, she warned that once we lose our culture, we lose our history, our territory, our intrinsic identity.
The English Department of the college intended to have a series a year of such discourses from Naga writers to enable students to listen to live lectures from the writers whose works are included in their syllabus.
