About amaraavati kathalu - 1
V. Chowdary Jampala (cjampala@quark.dayton.net)
Thu, 20 Nov 1997 14:27:13 -0500 (EST)
About amaraavati kathalu - 1
Recently I cited 'amaraavati kathalu' in one of our discussions
here. In ensuing posts, Vasu derided them as overrated, poorly written
works without plots or originality (my paraphrase). Madhav Turumella
shared, without much explanation, his thinking of them as 'diddly
stuff'. Readers who have been around on this forum for a while know
about my affection for amaraavati kathalu. I cherish them as much as I
cherish the good, old aavakaaya pacchaDi.
Before I write more about this series of stories, let me give you
some background. In mid 1970s, there was a major newsprint shortage.
aandhrajyOti decided to cut newsprint costs by decreasing the page
size of the weekly magazine from its traditional magazine page format
to a pocket size format. Realizing that such a drastic change may
drive away their readers, they decided to ensure that the change would
be accompanied by a dramatic improvement in the quality of the
magazine. They added a lot of new features when they made the switch.
And one of their most successful new features was a weekly series,
"amaraavati kathalu" by Satyam Sankaramanchi. This series of small
stories about the people of the village of Amaraavati and the place
ran for approximately two years (100 stories in all).
A collection of these 100 stories was lovingly produced and published
by navOdaya (Vijayawada) in early 1979 (inside fronticipiece of that
edition gives the date of publication as June 1978; I will swear under
oath that the first copy arrived in Guntur on February 8, 1979) at a
price of Rs. 25 (quite a sum for a book in those days) with baapu's
illustrations for each one of the stories and an introduction by
muLLapooDi venkaTaramaNa. baapu's pictures for this book have also
become legendary and have been reproduced countless times. Shyam
Benegal produced and directed a highly acclaimed Hindi tele-series
'amaraavati kee kahaaniyaa' based on these stories for Doordarshan in
1995, and eenaaDu dubbed that serial into Telugu last year. I saw a
recent advertisement from navOdaya announcing a new reprint of this
book (most likely the third or fourth reprint) and taking pre-
publication orders. I also saw in one of the book catalogues what
seemed like a Ph.D. thesis on this book.
(To be continued)
Regards -- V. Chowdary Jampala