Book center meda
Prasad Saripalli (prasad@grove.ufl.EDU)
Mon, 24 Jun 1996 14:27:05 -0400
It seems to me that we enjoy the culture around literature as much as the
literature itself. Many of us relish anecdotes about how a poet dictated
his magnum opus in a few weeks, how a song writer came upon writing his
famous song and what sort of repartee were exchanged among the writers of
yesterday. Some times very common places like way-side coffee hotels become
the colonnades of culture. Every town in Andhra must have a few places like
that. There were precious few attempts to record our literary culture;
Abburi VaradaRajeswara Rao agri 'Kavana Kutuhalam' comes to mind. Since all
of us have had first hand experience in our own towns back home, why don't
we share our experiences on Telusa? Where do the poets and writers of your
town meet? Is it a temple, a school or local library? What sort of
passions are they given to, how do they interact, how do they act? Your
contributions will enlighten us all.
There are a few 'literary' places like that in Visakhapatnam, where I come
from. One is 'Bookcenter Meda'. The other is 'Grandhalayam Meda'. And we
have a Visakha Sahiti, a Sahridaya Sahiti, a Sitra Kala Nikethan, a
University and ofcourse Ravi Sastry. Here I will write about book center
meda. This famous place is a large terrace, roof of a book store called the
Book Center in Vizag. Two gentlemen, Vabbilichetti Varahalu Chetty garu and
his brother, run this shop. Fortunately for Vizag, they are litterateurs
also. They took great interest in bringing literary people - writers, poets
and revolutionaries in their various hues- together on this terrace every so
often. Thses meetings start usually at 6P. M., Varahalu chetty garu himself
serving tea to all the attendees. Usually there is an occasion for the
meeting, such as a book avishkaranam. Colrful literary personalities who
are in town- KArA, RAvisAstry, ChAsO (a frequent guest), BharAgo, Tripura,
Smile, Chandu SubbArAo, Athaluri, Ghandikota Brahmaji Rao, Chalasani Prasad,
Bhairavayya, Krishna Bai- and many other writers would attend these meetings
and talk one after the other. Topics for these talks range from review of a
recent book to the current trends in popular literature to someone's 70th
birth day. The meeting would run late but its so much fun that people
gather into groups and talk some more. Meetings such as these represent a
very important part of our growth and individuals such as Varahalu chetty
garu make these happen. They also offer a fortunate alternative to TV and
movies. Let us hear about the writers and special places of your town.
Kanaka Prasad