Till a few years back, the only benchmark we had to test the proof of
life of chandobaddha kavitvam was the Bharathi monthly. After Bharathi
stopped publishing, there was a gap. From the past few years, another
quarterly journal in a very humble manner started in Visakhapatnam, by
name Prasanna Bharathi completly devoted to Chandobhadda sahityam. I
subscribe to it and would be happy to give details if anyone is
interested. Right here in North America there are Chadhobaddha kavulu. I
felt very proud when I saw Seesa padhyalu written by Vedala
Srinivasacharya and few books of poems translated from Sanskrit by
Krishna Desikacharya.
Chandhobhadha kavitvam is not "cool" or "topical" but I believe that
there is a silent majority who enjoy reading them. This is a tradition
like Shakespere and we need to guard on what we say about this rich
heritage of poets. When we had kids perform Bhuvana vijayamu two weeks
back in Chicago, I was pleasantly surprised to see how they mastered
reciting the poems and had fun doing that on the stage. I do not think
its a problem for the next generation to enjoy and carry it on; but
looks like its a problem for us the first generation who seem to feel
guilty at not being able to do anything!
Personally I enjoy Sri-Sri, Cinare as well as Allasani or Tenali
Ramakrishna (sometimes feel inadequate at not being able to comprehend
fully - I brought a nighantuvu during my last visit).
Regards,
SriRama Krishna Dronamraju
(krishna@lucent.com)
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