“If we break the language barrier, we can understand each other better and easily become one”Sitting unruffled and composed in his home space, he declares that Political Science was his favourite subject and it makes one wonder why Dr D Kuolie opted for Linguistics instead. To this, he confesses that a research paper on Japan he read years ago had convinced him that ‘development of our mother tongue is the most important for the development of the society’.
He adds that biologically ‘our mental exercise and thinking power always shift to our mother tongue where creativity is embedded’. Therefore, he decided to dedicate his life to the development of Tenyidie. He is also quick to clarify that he has never once regretted leaving Political Science behind while pronouncing - “it is my destiny; God has given me this profession.”
In the real sense, however, he has stayed with the ancient philosophical thoughts of the likes of Socrates, Aristotle and Plato. His wide knowledge on other subjects is also pretty much intact, evident in the keen interest of his inputs as he touches upon various subject matters. It’s hard to bypass the fact that here is one learned man whose concern for social transformation stands genuine.
In the course of this tête-à-tête, he still brings in Rousseau and Voltaire who he says “were instrumental in developing the minds of the masses during the Great French Revolution. To which end, he firmly believes that “in order to transform and better our society in all rounds of development, literature is a must.”
A frontrunner in Tenyidie language, he says that “it is a highly expressive language.” Linguistically, he feels ‘it’s a beautiful language…very complex but it has a highly expressive power.”
He emphasises that the whole language community should “try to build up literature of our own mother tongue where we can draw the richness of our forefathers”, adding that “it can also be blended with the modern civilisation to refine our society for development”.
“We have a highly concentrated oral literature,” he says and feels that we the need to expose ourselves to the outside world because ‘claiming we have a rich heritage is only half value’.
From his perspective, literature in Nagaland is very much alive. “We can enrich it,” he underlines and laments that so far this has not been taken up with any degree of seriousness.
According to him, whether it’s literature or art, the approach is almost same. He regretfully inserted that ‘Nagas are still under the spell of tribalism’ while strongly asserting that this ‘must be broken for our wider interest’, particularly in this fast changing world.
Dwelling further on the lines of language, he says, “If we can understand each other we can easily become one”. One must say this is a very noteworthy point.
“If we learn each other’s language, we have easy access to each other’s opinions”…and that’s also one of the reasons why he wishes to further the development of Tenyidie Language. One prospect of learning the language could easily be the fact that the State Capital has all cross-section of the community.”
The world, he explains, has become a playground in the field of industries, businesses, education etc and while referring to Exchange Programmes of reputed Universities, he says that “it’s only because they want to facilitate each other on their respective cultures”.
Yet, Tenyidie is not the only language he propagates. Come 2010, Nagaland would soon be able to boast of probably the first ‘Institution of World Languages’ in the country. A brainchild of Dr. D. Kuolie, the Institution will offer certificate courses as well as PG Diploma courses. This concept was visualised with the need to do away with language barriers. Local dialects like Tenyidie and Ao would be part of the venture while of course, English is definitely in. Four other foreign languages like Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Thai would be special attractions of the Institute.
He also said that plans to rope in the languages of the neighbouring nations like Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc are on. He is confident that with this academic endeavour, Naga language students would become more highly employable.
To his credentials lie many a celebrated moment and in the promotion of literature, his name automatically springs up, yet he remains humble in his approach even when asked about his achievements. With over two decades of experience with writing, his contribution in the literary field is tremendous.
Till date, he has translated 8 books (from English to Tenyidie) including scientific text translation and Shakespearean plays, among others. Translation, he opines, is time consuming and challenging but says that it is definitely worth the long hours of effort he puts into it.
D Kuolie has also authored 14 books that vary in style and content. An accomplished poet and writer, he has dealt with everything literary. Delving inside the covers of his published books, one finds short stories, folklore pieces, poems, critical analysis of literature on drama, fiction, poetry among others.
It is no wonder then that his credentials earned him the Governor’s Award for Literature last year. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his outstanding contribution in literature. Known also as the National Academy of Letters, Sahitya Akademi was set up by the Government of India to foster and coordinate literary activities in all the Indian Languages and promote through them cultural unity.
Over the years, he has participated and attended numerous workshops and seminars on literature across the country besides presenting various papers and lectures. Currently serving as the Head of Tenyidie Department, NU, he is also actively involved with Ura Dze, a monthly publication.
And you’re mistaken if you think his hands are too full for anything else – another novel is also in the making.
Before wrapping up things, one may want to delight in a little musing of this celebrated Poet, Writer and Teacher who feels that Poetry gives awareness to the follies of the society and goes on to say that “Poetry is an instrument to social criticism”.
Enlightening a bit more on one his own personal favourite poems, he talks about “Moonlight’s Love” which has a symbolic value and here, he sees the moon’s light as distribution of equal right, equal love to all the universe whereas the sunlight seems to give more disadvantages to the poorer section if the society by clearly disclosing their poverty and woes.
In his own lines:
“…To those who hoard in booty by foul means, In hundred millions or thousand millions are but demigod to many. Virtuous are pushed aside to corners to be crushed is an unthinkable act to regret!"
He adds that biologically ‘our mental exercise and thinking power always shift to our mother tongue where creativity is embedded’. Therefore, he decided to dedicate his life to the development of Tenyidie. He is also quick to clarify that he has never once regretted leaving Political Science behind while pronouncing - “it is my destiny; God has given me this profession.”
In the real sense, however, he has stayed with the ancient philosophical thoughts of the likes of Socrates, Aristotle and Plato. His wide knowledge on other subjects is also pretty much intact, evident in the keen interest of his inputs as he touches upon various subject matters. It’s hard to bypass the fact that here is one learned man whose concern for social transformation stands genuine.
In the course of this tête-à-tête, he still brings in Rousseau and Voltaire who he says “were instrumental in developing the minds of the masses during the Great French Revolution. To which end, he firmly believes that “in order to transform and better our society in all rounds of development, literature is a must.”
A frontrunner in Tenyidie language, he says that “it is a highly expressive language.” Linguistically, he feels ‘it’s a beautiful language…very complex but it has a highly expressive power.”
He emphasises that the whole language community should “try to build up literature of our own mother tongue where we can draw the richness of our forefathers”, adding that “it can also be blended with the modern civilisation to refine our society for development”.
“We have a highly concentrated oral literature,” he says and feels that we the need to expose ourselves to the outside world because ‘claiming we have a rich heritage is only half value’.
From his perspective, literature in Nagaland is very much alive. “We can enrich it,” he underlines and laments that so far this has not been taken up with any degree of seriousness.
According to him, whether it’s literature or art, the approach is almost same. He regretfully inserted that ‘Nagas are still under the spell of tribalism’ while strongly asserting that this ‘must be broken for our wider interest’, particularly in this fast changing world.
Dwelling further on the lines of language, he says, “If we can understand each other we can easily become one”. One must say this is a very noteworthy point.
“If we learn each other’s language, we have easy access to each other’s opinions”…and that’s also one of the reasons why he wishes to further the development of Tenyidie Language. One prospect of learning the language could easily be the fact that the State Capital has all cross-section of the community.”
The world, he explains, has become a playground in the field of industries, businesses, education etc and while referring to Exchange Programmes of reputed Universities, he says that “it’s only because they want to facilitate each other on their respective cultures”.
Yet, Tenyidie is not the only language he propagates. Come 2010, Nagaland would soon be able to boast of probably the first ‘Institution of World Languages’ in the country. A brainchild of Dr. D. Kuolie, the Institution will offer certificate courses as well as PG Diploma courses. This concept was visualised with the need to do away with language barriers. Local dialects like Tenyidie and Ao would be part of the venture while of course, English is definitely in. Four other foreign languages like Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Thai would be special attractions of the Institute.
He also said that plans to rope in the languages of the neighbouring nations like Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc are on. He is confident that with this academic endeavour, Naga language students would become more highly employable.
To his credentials lie many a celebrated moment and in the promotion of literature, his name automatically springs up, yet he remains humble in his approach even when asked about his achievements. With over two decades of experience with writing, his contribution in the literary field is tremendous.
Till date, he has translated 8 books (from English to Tenyidie) including scientific text translation and Shakespearean plays, among others. Translation, he opines, is time consuming and challenging but says that it is definitely worth the long hours of effort he puts into it.
D Kuolie has also authored 14 books that vary in style and content. An accomplished poet and writer, he has dealt with everything literary. Delving inside the covers of his published books, one finds short stories, folklore pieces, poems, critical analysis of literature on drama, fiction, poetry among others.
It is no wonder then that his credentials earned him the Governor’s Award for Literature last year. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his outstanding contribution in literature. Known also as the National Academy of Letters, Sahitya Akademi was set up by the Government of India to foster and coordinate literary activities in all the Indian Languages and promote through them cultural unity.
Over the years, he has participated and attended numerous workshops and seminars on literature across the country besides presenting various papers and lectures. Currently serving as the Head of Tenyidie Department, NU, he is also actively involved with Ura Dze, a monthly publication.
And you’re mistaken if you think his hands are too full for anything else – another novel is also in the making.
Before wrapping up things, one may want to delight in a little musing of this celebrated Poet, Writer and Teacher who feels that Poetry gives awareness to the follies of the society and goes on to say that “Poetry is an instrument to social criticism”.
Enlightening a bit more on one his own personal favourite poems, he talks about “Moonlight’s Love” which has a symbolic value and here, he sees the moon’s light as distribution of equal right, equal love to all the universe whereas the sunlight seems to give more disadvantages to the poorer section if the society by clearly disclosing their poverty and woes.
In his own lines:
“…To those who hoard in booty by foul means, In hundred millions or thousand millions are but demigod to many. Virtuous are pushed aside to corners to be crushed is an unthinkable act to regret!"
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