TURA: A Tura-based Koch poet has done his community proud by receiving the ‘Kabya Pran’ literary award in a function held recently at Darang Zila Sahitya Sabha Bhavan, Mangaldai in Assam.
Poet Nirmal Koch received the prestigious award from Ajir Kabita, a literary wing of the Darang Zila Sahitya Sabha. Koch was conferred the award in recognition for his lifelong contribution in the field of literature.
Koch has several literary publications to his credit, the most recent being “Longthai Vay” a collection of Koch poems. He along with Dhiraj Banai, another eminent Koch writer has also jointly written a Koch booklet titled “Tokpak”, which means butterfly in Koch dialect, which was released during the recently held golden jubilee celebrations of the Meghalaya Koch Association (MKA).
Nirmal Koch who also happens to be the president of the Meghalaya Koch Sahitya Sabha (MKSS) has undertaken several literary projects for the revival and preservation of the Koch dialect which is spoken in pristine purity only in the Garo hills district. He has also worked closely with Alexander Kondakov, a linguist from Russia which resulted in the publication of the monumental Koch-English dictionary.
