Otsü Pangerla sits in her living room as she weaves baskets out of corn husks. (Morung Photo)
Limasenla Jamir
Mokokchung | October 2
Born on 16 January, 1921, Pangertola Lemtur is a 100-year-old woman who resides at Dilong ward, Mokokchung and hails from Longpa village. Lovingly called as Otsü (grandmother) Pangerla, she is the oldest person alive in Dilong ward, Mokokchung. Otsü Pangerla has 6 children and 12 grandchildren.
What differentiates OtsüPangerla from many of her peer group is that she still sits healthily in a chair and weaves baskets, flower pots, coasters and different kinds of mats with corn husks and straws. At the age of 100, she can still read the newspaper without the help of spectacles and regularly takes down notes on her journal.
Weaving baskets and mats started in 1996 when she went for a stay-over at her daughter’s house. “While spending time with my two grandchildren, I started weaving baskets and mats with paddy straws and later on started using corn husks,” Otsü Pangerla said, adding that it has been more than 30 years since. “I am sure I have woven thousands of baskets and mats by now,” she added.
Otsü Pangerla does not sell any of her finished products. She gives them away as souvenirs to her children, grandchildren, her friends, relatives and neighbours. “I have never sold a single basket or coaster or mat. I make them and I give them away as souvenirs. I gift them so that whenever anyone uses them, they are reminded of me,” she shared.
“I am very proud of my mother,” said one of her daughters, Moala. “Sitting comfortably and weaving is her way of spending leisure time. My friends from different parts of the state and country have been gifted with her works and when they appreciate and tell me about the amazing work my mom does, it makes me really proud of her and her works. We are blessed by her works,” she added.
Otsü Pangerla comes across as a very cool, composed and a neat lady with very few words.
“Granny doesn’t talk much but she listens. She listens intently as she diligently keeps her hands busy. She is strong willed and stubborn but compromising and understanding. A balance I can only hope and dream to achieve,” said Aochell, one of her grand-daughters.
Apart from weaving, Otsü Pangerla also loves to sing. She was a part of the Mokokchung Town Baptist Church Women Choral group in the late sixties and sang until 2010. “We used to sing songs composed by my husband and we sang not only at our church but also in some of the nearby villages,” she recalled. They were a group of 16 members out of which only three of them are alive now.
“Being healthy and without any health issues has got to be the greatest gift God has given me and I am thankful each day for my life. Many of my friends are no longer with us, but with God’s grace, I am sitting here still strong and healthy and busy weaving,” Otsü Pangerla said. “What I do is just a way to pass my time, but I feel that young people will be able to make things better than me because they are more creative and smarter. The things I create are not waste and I would really like to encourage the young people to also start creating and be productive,” encouraged Otsü Pangerla.
