A new and modern pedda_baala_Siksha (Review)
V. Chowdary Jampala (cjampala@quark.dayton.net)
Thu, 30 Apr 1998 22:22:39 -0400 (EDT)
On Fri, 24 Apr 1998, Prasad Chodavarapu wrote:
> i am still disappointed though that we are continuing to use age-old
> examples in peddabAlaSikshalu. time has definitely come to revise it so
> as to teach childern modern concepts along with the language.
There is a new pedda_baala_Siksha out (was mentioned
in an earlier post by somebody else) under the title, surabhi
pedda_baala_Siksha, written (edited? compiled?) by Sri buDDiga
subbaraayan. This 400 page volume is published by Educational
Products of India, 1E Hiline apartments, 3-4-495, Barkatpura,
Hyderabad, 500 027, and is priced reasonnably at Rs. 49.95. The
author/publisher indicated that he would be willing to supply
'export' quality books at a higher (but, still reasonable) price
if there is sufficient interest.
According to the preface written by aarudra, the first
baala_Siksha was published in 1832 (more about this later when
I have time) and evolved to be a pedda_baala-Siksha a.k.a.
baala vivEka kalpa Taruvu by 1865. pedda_baala_Siksha presented
in an abridged form (somewhat like the almanacs or yearbooks),
a lot of information deemed essential knowledge about the world.
This was often, one of the first books (sometimes the only book)
that the youngsters got to read. It was a quick (but not dirty)
introduction to culture, literature, math and geography. I still
remember the sturdy volume with newsprint and large type that my
mother made me read and memorize in my younger days. This is where I
learned the names of the Telugu years, the tithis, and the
names of the eight dikpaalakaas.
Unfortunately, even as the rest of the Telugu world
progressed both in terms of knowledge deemed essential and in book
production technology, pedda_baala_Siksha remained where it was
almost a 100 years ago. True, there was some updating, but the
content for the most part remained as it did when I studied it
a long time ago (and when my parents studied it even longer time
ago). Since the content did not keep up with the society, the
book has lost its value and its popularity has declined considerably.
What is different about this new pedda_baala_Siksha? The
most important thing is that this volume has paid attention to
the current outside world, and the author has some definite ideas
on what he wanted to achieve. First, a little bit about the
author: Sree buDDiga subbaraayan has spent a large portion of his
life developing a Telugu encyclopedia, and is one of the
pioneers in children's literature movement. He had been
working in these fields for a long time, and, in a sense, this
pedda_baala_Siksha is a combination of the two. Sri Subbaraayan's
interest in rewriting the pedda_baala_siksha goes back to 1966
when he approached baapu to illustrate such a work. He finally
finished the project in 1997. The underlying foundation for this
work is the philosophy of 'cultural literacy'.
This book has the traditional chapters on alphabet,
vocabulary, names of the years, elementary math etc. But, it
also has sections on proper usage of language and style. It
also has an extensive section on science with various chapters
dealing with biology, astronomy etc. There is a big section on
'General knowledge' that deals with the region, the nation and
the world. There is a big section on literature.
How modern is this book? The alphabet lists the traditional
56 alphabets, but tells the reader that five of the 56 are no
longer in use. The section on famous women (stree rooDhi vaachaka
Sabdamulu) includes munimaaNikyam's kaantam and guraZaaDa's
madhuravaaNi. The children's literature section has a Telugu
translation of a Khalil Zibran's piece. The modern literature section
includes mahaa_prasthaanam among other things. It has entries on
'windows', 'e-mail', and 'gigabytes'.
How extensive is the entry list? Last month, I scoured
several of my references to find the year of death of dariSi
chenchayya (don't know who he is? Read Ari Sitaramaiah's article
in March TANA Patrika) and found that information in this book. This
month, I discovered a picture of kanneganTi hanumantu (did you ever
see one before?) in this book. It has extensive information on each of
the districts of Andhra Pradesh. The philatelists among you will
enjoy the clever use of Indian stamps for illustrations.
Also modern is the 'get-up' of the book. The last
pedda_baala_Siksha I purchased in 1990 looked almsot like the one
I studied decades ago. This one is more like the year books: 8.5in x
6.5 in in size, typeset by anu graphics, and with plenty of
illustrations (some by baapu: of interest: miniature sketches of the
Tank-bund Telugu Velugu statues).
Yes; with this, pedda_baala_Siksha stepped into the
modern era. For the people that don't know how to read English,
this book is readily available as a source of knowledge. For those
that want ready access to some of the traditional information,
this book is very handy.
I am glad to have this book within ready reach. You
should have one too.
Regards -- V. Chowdary Jampala
PS: I didn't find aaDuvaari alavaraNalu in this book.
PPS: Why 'surabhi'? because, surabhi is kaamadhEnuvu, gives you
everything that you need.