maachiraaju saavitridE marO kavita
V. Chowdary Jampala (cjampala@quark.dayton.net)
Tue, 17 Jun 1997 14:43:22 -0400 (EDT)
Veluri posted two poems by maachiraaju saavitri. I am posting
another piece by her that I liked very much. This was first published in
Telugu Paluku (vol 10, 1995), the Souvenir of the 10th North American
Telugu Conference.
I put my comments after the verse.
immigranTu dEvuDu
-----------------
-- maachiraaju saavitri.
konDa meeda dEvuNNi chooDaalanTE
tirupati pOnakkara lEdu
kyoolO paDigaapulu
paDanakkara lEdu
immigranTugaa amerikaalO
obbiDigaa koorchunTE
konDa digi lOyallOki
dEvuDE tarali vastaaDu
muDupuloo, mohamaaTaaloo
TikkeTloo, tatangaaloo
kaaLLaneppuloo, kaTikOpavaasaaloo
Emee akkara lEdu
'padanDi, padanDi'
'keep mooving'
ani adalincE dEvasthaanam_vaarE
'ranDi, ranDi'
'let us stay'
ani mora vinipistaaru
guLLO prasaadaalanammi
cEsukunna laabhaalani
guLLaki viraaLaalanToo
manaku prasaadistaaru
poota pooTa_koka naivEdyaMtO
ganta ganTa_koka sarikotta sEvatO
ghaDiya ghaDiaya_koka pratyEka poojatO
ukkiri bikkiri ayina svaami
aafeesukeLLE mundarO
inTiki veLLE tondarlOnO
andE archanala kOsam
Selava rOjullO
savaa_laksha panulatO
satamayyE bhaktula
teerika vELala_kOsam
edurutennulu choosstaaDu
avunu mari
immigranTugaa paraayi dESam vaccina_vaaDu
dEvuDainaa sarE binkam saDalinchaali
alavaaTloo, aachaaraaloo
annee kottavi nErvaali
kotta yajamaanlu mecchEtaTlu
meLakuva lerigi masalaali
kaani
svadESaniki tirigi veLLina dEvuDu
maLLee konDekkaka maanaDu
tirigi vacchina immigranTlu
en.aar.ai. gaddekkakaa maanaru
dESam bayaTa vaari guTTeragani
dESam vadalani amaayakulaku
vaaLLiddari daggiraa ooDigam tappadu
Why do I like this? At first glance, this appears like a satirical
observation about the local temples or 'dEvuDi paaTlu'. Then, in the
penultimate stanza, suddenly the writer brings about an incisive parallel
with the life of immigrants. Even that is surpassed in the last stanza,
where she talks about the status of these suffering immmigrants once they
step back on their native land. We realize that the poem is not
about the dEvuDu, but the immigrant dEvuDu. The whole verse takes
on a new meaning and forces you to read it again. I read this poem the day
before I went on a trip to India. The line, 'svadESaaniki tirigi veLLina
dEvuDu maLLee konDekkaka maanaDu' haunted me for several days. I welcome
further discussion of this verse.
Regards. -- V. Chowdary Jampala
PS: baapu's illustration accompanying this verse in the 1995 TANA souvenir
brilliantly captures the essence of this verse.