Re: More About GSS (fwd)

uday bhaskar (srijna@hotmail.com)
Tue, 23 Dec 1997 12:18:00 PST 

>> His works were admired by SreeSree and Viswanatha.
>> SreeSree says in a memorable stanza which opens :
>> 
>> Saeshaen nee kavita coosaen
>> adi padyamaa Frenchi madyamaa.....
>> 

No offense, but if one were to line up the mediocre telugu poets whom 
SrI SrI unduely praised and laid them end to end, we can probably go 
round the earth eight times. One had to only go and ask him to write a 
foreword or a review, and he was never able to say "No" or give his 
honest opinion in such matters.

>> Not that there were no critics.
>> Dr C Narayan Reddy, the second Telugu to win the most prestigious
>> award, the Gyaanapeetham, has been conistently critical of
>> Seshendra's aatmaaSraya kavitvam (sic). IMHO, si.na.re was
>> unfair, to say the least!

"It is the irony of our times,
no subject matter for immortal verse,
That we who lived by honest dreams 
Are forced to defend the bad against the worse"

sinArE may have written any amount of garbage, but he was right on this 
occasion. I would only contend that being AtmASrayaM was the least of 
the problems with GSS's poetry. He strikes me as being pretentious, 
insincere, and lacking in depth (My opinions only, but very strong 
opinions).

Just a small example -

"naenu cEtula meeda mallelu kaTTuku rAlEdu
saMceelO bAmbulu vaesukuni vaccAnu" (something like that, purists kindly 
excuse).

>> 
>> (The lines :
>>  poolu kommalloe irukkunna paaTalu
>>  pakshulu gallulloe egiripoetunna poolu
>> 
>>  were GSS's)
>> 

I remember one of his "gems" that Hyderabad Doordarsan inflicted on us -

"allAku vaeddAmu malle poolu
bAlAjI karpiddAm hOlI gulAlu" (?)

Muslims do use malle poolu, but as far as I am aware, they use them on 
graves and on the samAdhis of saints (peer bAbAs). Never to worship 
allAh, who in their view has no form, and who has forbidden any kind of 
idol worship.

hOli gulAlu is a North Indian phenomenon, and not usually associated 
with vEnkaTESwara swAmy (bAlAjI for our iMdirA pati). 

This is quite typical of GSS, though. His forte is juxtaposition of 
images that can catch your attention, but which neither make sense nor 
leave a good taste in your mouth. (Again, my opinions).

Regards,

Uday "Is French Wine really that bad?" Bhaskar

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