nAlO nEnu (Is literature the ultimate? #10-Conclusion)
Prabhakar Vissavajjhala (vissa@cortex.neuro.mssm.edu)
Thu, 19 Jun 1997 12:43:48 -0500
nAlO nEnu
[Is literature (poetry) the ultimate regarding practical reality? #10-
Conclusion)
[This is put in the form of a dialogue between 'manassu' (mind) abbreviated
as 'M' and 'buddhi' (conscience) abbreviated as 'B' of the same
individuval.]
M: Who is she?
B: She is 'telugu talli'. While you are at rest, I go and contact her and
let you know what she says. I am seeking the clarification from her for
your question. O.K. Stay well till I come back.
'buddhi' left to meet 'telugu talli' at her residence.
(I would have loved to write all the following in RIT'telugu', but that
would be too mucu for the readers. Yet there were some inevitable pieces, I
wrote in RIT. So, I may please be excused for this.)
That is my home. My sweet home. I left it sometime ago searching for my
livelyhood. At that time, I didn't know about it that much. After I went
out, I came to know a lot about it. It is a very strange house. It has 56
doors altogether. Their arrangement is also a little bit strange. 16 of
them are on one side in a row. I noticed two of those doors were closed,
eversince my childhood. I asked my mother about them. She just smiled at me
and asked me to ignore them. Opposite to them, there are 37 doors arranged
in a semicircular fashion. Almost each door has a ventilator on the top,
and 14 windows around the door. Adjoining these 16 and 37 doors, there are
the other 3 doors. It looks as if the building is full of doors, windows
and ventilators without any walls. It looks quite small from outside. Guess
what? once you step in, you can see not just the whole world, the whole
universe, if your eye sight is good. I tried so many times to see the roof.
Some people say there is no roof, but some othres say it is far off, but
there is a roof. My lovely mother lives in there. I love my mother. Her
name is 'telugu talli'. She told me once that she is 1000 year old. I just
couldn't believe. Still she looks very beautiful, graceful and always
glorious. Now, I came here seeking the answer from her for my buddy,
'manassu's' question. I hope she can spare sometime for me. She is in
general, very very busy. So, many people constantly keep her bothering for
her attention. It is just unimaginable to think of the number of people
stay there. You know something? In my childhood, one day she showed me some
people and asked me to identify them. I told they are also my brothers and
sisters. She laughed at me and told me that they were foreigners. She said
that she took care of so many of them. She said they looked very miserable,
when they first came. Some people, who were residing in the building at
that time seemed objected, they staying in the house. But nobody, could
dare dictate my mother. Afterall, she is the chief of that house. That is
why I am always proud of my mother. She gave the foreigners food and
shelter and after a while, nobody could tell that they were foreigners.
Though many people seek her attention every moment, she answers everybody
without fail and without losing the smile. I don't know whether she could
recognize me or not amidst of all these people. I stepped in the house. I
asked somebody where the mother is. They showed me. She is inviting some
people and sending off some peple through one of the doors. When I could
catch her attention, I went up to her and touched her feet. She blessed me
and got me up. It is the same smile when I left also. I just kept watching
her in immense joy for a while. I told her that I was a bit afraid of she
forgetting me. She smiled and said she doesn't forget those, who don't
forget her. She is really great. She asked my where abouts.
All of a sudden, I felt I was heavily pushed from behind and fell down. My
mother got me up. I stood beside her and looked at the people, who pushed
me. There were two people talking to my mother. One said angrily,
1st: cUDu! ee vedhava. kaDupu manTa gurinci kavitvam cepparA,
anTE; varUdhini vakshOjAlu, Urvasi Uruvulu, tilOtamma toDalu anTADu.
veeNNi tanni tagaleyya lEvA?
The second fellow said,
2nd: tallee! EmiTi nA kee Siksha? ee rasa heenuDini bayaTaki pampa
lEvA?
I was amazed. So, this problem is here also. I was curiously watching what
my mother would say. She asked them to go and play as she has to talk to
me and get back to them later.
She turned to me. I asked her folding my arms
(nEnu = N; amma = A)
N: ammA! idE samasyatO nEnU vaccAnu. sAhityam; kEvalam kaLa
kOsamA? prajA jeevana prAtinidhyAnikA?
She smiled.
A: mEdhAvi nannAvu. AmAtram telusukOlEdA?
N: ammA! neekanTE mEdhAvinA?
A: sarE! bhAsha dEniki?
N: bhAvamu lEka anubhUti ceppaDam kOsam
A: bhAsha lEni nADu, mAnavuDiki, anubhUti lEdA?
nA tala tirigindi. I never thought of this. She smiled at me.
A: manishiki, anubhUti nA kanTE mundu puTTindi. anubhUti manassulO
puDutundi. kAbaTTi manishiki manssu mukhyam. okari anubhUtini,
marokariki cEra vEyaTamE nA pani. nEnu tapAla manishi lATi dAnni.
uttaramlO unna vishayamtO nAku pramEyam lEdu. dAnni mOsuku pOyi
andajEyaDamE nA pani. adi vishAdamaina, santOshamainA nAku okaTE. A
tEDAlu anubhUti grahincE manassu baTTi kAni, nAku sambandhincinadi
kAdu. anubhUtini mOyaDam, cEra vEyaDam to nA kartvavyam pUrti
aUtundi. dAni parvyava sAnAniki nAkU bAdhyata lEdu. bhUta, vartamAna,
bhavishyattulalO nA biDDala anubhUtulaku, nEnu vAhakAnni mAtramE.
kaLa ainA, jeevitamainA anubhUtulE kadA!
E yadhAmAm prapadyantE, tAm stadhaiava bhajA myaham
nannu evaru ErakangA bhAvistE, vArini A rakangA anugra histAnu.
evari meeda prEma, dvEsham nAku lEvu. andarU nA vArE! nEnu andari
dAnini.
telugu vADanEvADu, ee bhUmi meeda unnanta varaku, nEnu ee pani
cEstUnE unTAnu.
Slowly, I am coming out of trans. Suddenly, something struck me. There was
something odd. What is that? Yes! Yes! She talked in sanskrit! 'telugu
talli' talked in sanskrit!!!! Should I ask her why she did that? Will she
get offended? I asked her politely.
N: ammA! kOpagincaku. telugu tallivi gadA! saMskRtamlO mATlADA
vEmiTi? tappu gAdA?
amma navvindi.
A: nAyanA! nEnu nee tallini. Ame nA talli. nEnu neekentO; Ame
nAkanta! neeku paricayam takkuvainA, Ame neeku ammamma! vidESeeyulnE,
svanta vALLu anukunna nannu, tallini talucu kOvaDam tappanTAvA?
'talliki biDDaku vEru sEtuvE?!' ani maLLee navvindi.
siggutO tala ekkaDa peTTukOvAlO teliyalEdu. tirigi Ameku
pAdAbhivandanam cEsi, ASeervacanam pondi, bayaTa paDDAnu. j~nAnO
dayam pondina buddhuDu, iTlAgE anubhUti cendADEmO?!
How great my mother? Whether life or art, what is it, except for feelings?
Once she carries the message, her role gets over. She acts simply as a
catalyst. She is not responsible for the consequences of those messages. It
is the human mind in the beginning and at the end. So kind she is that she
never says no to anybody. If there are feelings, she carries them again
relentlessly. That's all. urEkA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am walking back briskly to meet my buddy. Oh! gash! I forgot something
to enquire. It is the current name of the house. When I was very young, I
came to know that house used to be called 'Andhra nAma saMskRta duhitA
saUdhamu'. I don't know what they are calling it now. Should I go and ask
my mother? No she laughs. Probably, she may not know even! I should check
with someone else. Yah! There are four guys sitting at that door. Let me
check with them.
N: EmanDi! ee inTi pErEmiTi?
I asked one of them.
1st: deenni 'Andhra bhAshA bhavanamu' anTAru, nAyanA!
Before, I could say Oh!... to myself, I heard
'Archiac!'....The 2nd one is shouting at the 1st and turned to me and said,
2nd: deeni pEru 'telugu mEDa'.
'gaTla cillAyinco ddani ceppalE?' The 3rd is saying to the 2nd and
turned to me and said,
3rd: lEddora! gidi 'telgu havEli' unnadi. aUmalla! gidE yAduncukO!
inkabO! annADu.
'Shut up! I heard the 4th saying to the 3rd. He turned to me and said,
4th: No, gentleman! This should be called 'Telgu Mansion'. We are going
to finalize this name in the coming elections very soon.
navvukunTU, venakki tirigAnu. modaTi mUDU pharvA lEdu. kAni, 'Telgu
Mansion'?!
amma gurtu koccindi. pApam! Ameki eppuDU inTE! modaTlO saMskRtam;
ippuDu #English#. eppuDU telugulO telugu takkuvE! amma meeda jAli
kaligindi. pApam, 'telugu talli; picci talli.
bahuSA, ee lekkana, edO oka rOju; 'a, A lu vaccina vALLU
#Application# peTTanDi. #Telgu Literary Award# istA mani EnglishlO
#Advertizement# vaccinA AScarya pOnakkara lEdu. nEnu appaTi dAkA
bratikunTE, nAku #chance# unDavaccu. #Award# kigAni, #Award deciding
committee member#gA gAni. nA Uhaki nAkE navvoccindi.
T H E E N D
With sincere regards,
Prabhakar Vissavajjhala