On Sun, 10 Mar 1996, Madhava Kumar Turumella wrote:
(some lines about why avadhaanis are limited by the prakriya are
deleted)
> In my opinion "avadhanis are born poets with very high intellectual
> calibre". But, by restricting them to some chosen words we are
> unable to comprehend the poetic potential in them.
>
The question, of course, for me continues to be, if they are such
great poets, where is the great poetry that avadhaanis have produced
through the centuries? Have the avadhaanis compromised their poetic
talent by sacrificing at the altar of the mental gymnastics
required by the sport of avadhaanam? Are the avadhaanis shortchanging
themselves (and the public) by the public adulation (and any material
benefits such adulation may bring)? Are we (the public) contributing to
their failure (so to say) by showering them with adulation, for what most
people seem to say is mediocre poetry?
Also, do the abilities that are cultivated by the avadhaanis for this
purpose get in the way of them telling great poetry? I am reminded of
something that abboori varada raajESwara raavu once said about his own
'dhaaraNa' ability. He felt that his dhaaraNa was in some ways a
curse, as it came in the way of his composing original poetry of great value.
(more lines deleted)
> One can not believe that a beautiful (Yes! na bhootO nabhavishyati)
> varNana on NrusiMha was told in one of the SatAvadhanaMs of
> brahmaSri Veluri Sivarama Satry garu :
>
> prouDhArka dyuti kOTi pATala saTA riMchOLi kAbhAsurO
> nirghA tadyuti bhirnakhaiH prakaTi tApArOllasa dvikramaH
> daitva vrAtalibhOH hiraNya kaSipOdhyaksha sthalee bhaMja kO
> lakshee jAni rudrAra dheera vatunaH Sree nArasiMha prabhuH ||
>
> iMta gaMbheeramaina, proudhamaina varNana mari iMkekkaDA manaku
> kanabaDadu. avadhAnAlalO kavitvaM kanabaDadanE "apavAdu"ku Sri Sastry
> gAru piDugudebba koTTAru.
>
Superlatives aside, this may be great poetry, but pardon me for
asking if he was supposed to be telling aaSu kavita in Telugu or Sanskrit?
> My personal opinion is that, both Medasani and Madugula
> are very good poets. People are not getting the maximum out of
> them, that's all.
>
Are they holding back because of the people? How and why?
(more lines deleted)
> ika SrISrI garaMTArA "neekoka sigareTTistA nAkoka Satakammu rASi
> nayamuga nimmA", aMTE AdurdAgA SatakaM rASina "mahAkavi".
Do the quotes around 'mahAkavi' signify any doubts on your part
about Srisri's abilities as a kavi? If so, I would like to read you
elaborating more on that. On the other hand, if the above lines were
meant just as a cheap shot due to dysphoria caused by Srisri's
comments on avadhaanam, we can identify them as such and move on.
> "avadhAnaM cooDalEkapOyAnu kAnee... dommarivALLa ATa cooSAnani, anaDaM
> AyanakE celliMdi!". SrISrI, tApI, raai etc.. people are really great
> intellectuals. I always wonder why at some aspects they go against
> and make weird comments!
'Weird' is, of course, a subjective term, and I will ignore it
for now. It may surprise you that Srisri was not alone in likening the
avadhaanams to dommaraTa. 'adi SrisrikE gaadu, tirupati venkaTa kavulaku
kooDaa chellindi'. Yes, even the great tirupati venkaTa kavulu, that were
the leading exponents of the avadhaana prakriya in their days, likened
avadhaanam to dommaraaTa, and did not hold it in the high esteem that we
seem to be holding it.
Truthfully, the comparison between the avadhaanamu and dommaraaTa
is not surprising when I think about it, even though I agree that it
seems like a 'neechOpamaanam'. Most netters readily compared gymnastics
to avadhaanam. Remember that 'gymnastics' is a relatively new field for
us Telugus, so Srisri or tirupati venkaTa kavulu can only compare the
avadhaanam to acrobatics in stead of gymnastics. And where were acrobatics
seen in those days? The answer is obvious.
Incidentally, what was taapi doing in this thread? Is this a
perseveration from one of the previous threads?
>This reminds me the song :
>
> "muddu gulAbeeki muLLuMtAyi, mogalipuvvulOnA nAguMTAdi"
>
This, once again, reminds me that we can make poetic comparisons with
anything we choose, and the muLLu in one comparison can easily be
substituted by suvaasana in another.
Regards. --- V. Chowdary Jampala