Temsula Ao

Thanks to a friend who gifted me this book - 'Laburnum for my head' - I got to read my first collection of short stories from a writer from Nagaland.

Though we see so many people from the North-Eastern states in most of our metros, I am always troubled, and ashamed, by the fact that most of us don't know enough about these fellow Indians, their rich cultures, the causes of the strife that continues there. We rarely go out of our way to discover a people or their stories.

I believe that the first step to understanding and caring for a community is listening to their stories.

Read Temsula Ao, who beats so many renowned Indian writers we know of - I am appalled that I had never heard of her before. Superlative writing, and a range that is impressive.

Laburnum for my head, a Penguin publication, by Temsula Ao (awarded the Padma Shree in 2007)
Penguin Review: http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/category/Fiction/Laburnum_for_My_Head_9780143066200.aspx

Buy it: You can buy it for just Rs.123 from Flipkart if you are in India - http://www.flipkart.com/laburnum-my-head-temsula-ao-book-014306620x

Temsula Ao
Temsula Ao is a professor at the Department of English, and the Dean of School of Humanities and Education, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. She is the author of eight books, including five books of poetry and a collection of short stories, These Hills Called Home: Stories from a War Zone, published by Zubaan-Penguin (2006).

A member of the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi, she was awarded the Padma Shree in 2007.

A nice article by her on her grandmother who lived up to 106 - http://www.harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPrintView.jsp?page_id=4862