Nalini Prava Deka (11 March 1944 â€" 15 June 2014) was an author,
poet, storyteller, actress and playwright from Assam, a state in India
encompassing the Brahmaputra Valley. She was honoured at a 2012
gathering in Ledo by the Assam Sahitya Sabha (Assam Literary
Society).[1] Deka promoted Assamese heritage, traditional customs,
weaving and fabric art, cooking and folk music with her husband,
Bhabananda Deka.[2] They researched traditional Assamese lifestyle,
art, literature and culture.[3][4][5] Deka was the first female editor
and publisher of a children's magazine, Phul (Flower),[6] and wrote 30
critically praised books.[2] All India Radio broadcast Deka's radio
plays on issues related to women and children.[2][7]According to the
Assam Tribune, Deka has "been like an institution to our society" and
"has contributed immensely to the cultural and economic spheres of our
state".[7] Dainik Sankarjyoti, an Assamese daily published in
Guwahati, described how she played a significant part in nurturing the
traditional indigenous Assamese lifestyle and social ethos by
promoting indigenous Assamese weaving traditions (maintaining taat
xaalâ€"hand looms for weaving mekhela sadawr and suriya chapkawn) and
dheki (traditional Assamese crop grinders for rice and
pithaguri.[5][additional citation(s) needed] Deka died on 15 June 2014
in Guwahati. ChaiTunes released a music video as a tribute.[8][9]A
poet, Deka inculcated the legacy of Assamese culture and heritage in
her children.[10] She set up an indigenous Assamese traditional hand
loom (taat-xaal ) at her homes in New Delhi and Guwahati to produce
hand-woven fabrics and garments. Deka wore her hand-woven
mekhela-sadawr and wove suriya-sapkawns for her husband to
wear.[4][5][6] She set up a crop-grinding tool (dheki ) at home,
using it to producing her family’s food from organic herbs. Raw
paddy, including rice, wheat and lentils, was ground to produce
traditional Assamese food and snacks such as saul, kumawl saul, bora
saul, sira, aakhoi and xandawh. Deka demonstrated self-reliance, even
in the city.[4][5]
poet, storyteller, actress and playwright from Assam, a state in India
encompassing the Brahmaputra Valley. She was honoured at a 2012
gathering in Ledo by the Assam Sahitya Sabha (Assam Literary
Society).[1] Deka promoted Assamese heritage, traditional customs,
weaving and fabric art, cooking and folk music with her husband,
Bhabananda Deka.[2] They researched traditional Assamese lifestyle,
art, literature and culture.[3][4][5] Deka was the first female editor
and publisher of a children's magazine, Phul (Flower),[6] and wrote 30
critically praised books.[2] All India Radio broadcast Deka's radio
plays on issues related to women and children.[2][7]According to the
Assam Tribune, Deka has "been like an institution to our society" and
"has contributed immensely to the cultural and economic spheres of our
state".[7] Dainik Sankarjyoti, an Assamese daily published in
Guwahati, described how she played a significant part in nurturing the
traditional indigenous Assamese lifestyle and social ethos by
promoting indigenous Assamese weaving traditions (maintaining taat
xaalâ€"hand looms for weaving mekhela sadawr and suriya chapkawn) and
dheki (traditional Assamese crop grinders for rice and
pithaguri.[5][additional citation(s) needed] Deka died on 15 June 2014
in Guwahati. ChaiTunes released a music video as a tribute.[8][9]A
poet, Deka inculcated the legacy of Assamese culture and heritage in
her children.[10] She set up an indigenous Assamese traditional hand
loom (taat-xaal ) at her homes in New Delhi and Guwahati to produce
hand-woven fabrics and garments. Deka wore her hand-woven
mekhela-sadawr and wove suriya-sapkawns for her husband to
wear.[4][5][6] She set up a crop-grinding tool (dheki ) at home,
using it to producing her family’s food from organic herbs. Raw
paddy, including rice, wheat and lentils, was ground to produce
traditional Assamese food and snacks such as saul, kumawl saul, bora
saul, sira, aakhoi and xandawh. Deka demonstrated self-reliance, even
in the city.[4][5]
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