It was January 26th, 1972. At 4:30 pm, we were returning from the
pitch and I had to change my cricket dress into formal clothing to
receive Sri Sri who visited Parlakimedi to address the annual
Telugu Students' Association Meeting. When he was invited by the
Parlakimedi students, he could not say no (in spite of his tight
schedule). The faculty and students requested my father, late
Sri Paranandi Venkata Ramasastry to preside over the meeting and also
introduce Sri Sri to the public. My father was a student of
Padmabhushan Mamidipoodi Venkatarangayyagaru and obtained his M.A. in
politics. He used to tell me "I studied Das Capital as a text book
and you read it as a bible." But he agreed on one thing with me that
Sri Sri understood Marxist philosophy and followed it atom by atom.
My father even said in the intoductory remarks "Some read Das Capital as
text books. Some of us read it out of curiosity. But we dare not practise
it nor we can talk about it. Sri Sri not only studied Marx but also
digested Marx, incorporated Marxism, and gave it a new twist in the form
of Modern Telugu poetry that people caught in the quagmire of poverty
and life-in-death, can open their eyes. The reader of his poetry does not
need thesarus, dictionary, and above all need not consult a Ubhaya-bhasha
praviina. After all language is spoken by common people and the poetry
should take a message to the society in these days of political unrest and
exponentially proliferating corruption."
Then my father requested late Sri Tata Krishnamurty mastergaru (who was a
lecturer of history and English at Maharajah's college during 30's to 50's)
to talk about Sri Sri as Sri Krishnamurty was Sri Sri's best friend at
Madras. They together wrote poetry during those days. This is a story
most of you not have heard of. Sri Krisnamurty garu was the Ronanki of
Parlakimedi college in intellectual calibre. Patapatnam is a village next
to Parlakimedi now in Andhra (in Srikakulam dist. - also the place where
Gidugu went to, first, after he came to know that Parlakimedi joined
Orissa). Adjacent to Patapatnam is another village, called Booragam
(booraga'm). This was an agraharam. Sri Tata Krisnamoorthy's wife was in
Booragam. When Sri Krishnamoorty was parted from his wife while studying
in Madras, he wrote poetry under the guidence of Sri Sri. I remember a
few lines:
My paragon Oh my paragon
What a pity! I left her in booraga'm!
booraga'm! booraga'm!
come here my dear paragaon.
(paragon = the most valuable diamond)
Any way, Sri Tata Krishnamurty (who was regarded in the whole state of
Orissa as a scholar of English literature, politics, and history) admitted
that Sri Sri was Andhra Marx. (I am quoting verbatum). Who cares what
Potukuchi says. I studied Marx. I understood Marx under the guidance of
my dad (who was a freelance journalist also). I studied Sri Sri's poetry.
I understood Sri Sri's poetry and I understand Marxism through his poetry
more clearly. I had known Sri Sri and I spent very valuable time with him.
Those are my 3 strong crieteria to declare that Sri Sri was a student
of Marx, understood Marxism well enough, and put it use through his
intellectual mission i.e. poetry.
Among Marxism lovers, followers, preachers, sympathizers, and even haters,
majority of them came to listen to Sri Sri. Most of them were Oriyas -
I mean people who speak Oriya as their mother tongue. About 1500 people
showed up. Poets usually are chauanistic and fanatic in most cases.
A Telugu poet always says that Telugu is great (in majority of cases).
This applies to a Bengali poet and also an English poet. Do you know
What Sri Sri said at the tail end of his speech? Sri Sri said "man
samGamlO aikyata ka'va'lamTE, manamamdaramoo kalava'li. nEnu ela'gaitE
tamiLa BoomilO vumDi tamiLam gooDa' O Ba'shaga' amgiikaristunna'nO,
miiru kooDa' Oriya Telugu Ba'shalanu a'darimca'li. prastutam mana
samGa'mlO aikyataku adi ca'la' muKyam." People applauded for 10 minutes
non-stop. That tells his ideology and philosophy of integrity. Where did
he get that integrity?
I will give you clear-cut examples on how much Sri Sri understood Marxism
that he believed in, lived, and lived for it all his life, going to the
length of sacrificing his comforts and jeopardizing the comforts of his
family members. That is given below. Before that I will tell you what
I saw with my own eyes and experienced.
-----------------------------
That was diipavaLi in the month of November. It is a tradition in my
native place (even today) that the farmers bring sugarcane (bundles) and
bellam and give that to the landlord out of innocence, affection, respect,
and fear. Appanna came to Jagannadha Bugata's (bukta) house at 10 am, on
foot from Maccumara (8 miles away from Parlakimedi) carrying the load of
sugarcane on his shoulders and the bellam (pomgubellam) in his left hand
and gOmgoora (janapa koora) in his right hand. He put the stuff in the
backyard. Cows, even while defecating and urinating, are allowed to pass
thorugh the naTTillu of Jagannadha Bugata but this fellow human, Appadu was
not allowed to go through Nattillu. He was ordered to come via the perati
da'ri. Appanna was treated worse than that beast. Then he came to the
front door and waited for Jagannadha Bugta. Jagannadha Bugta came and he
was very angry:
Bugata or Bugta or Bukta or bugta or bukta or bukata : landlord in
Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram areas.
Also used in Vizagpatam.
Jagannadha Bhugta : Em ra' lam..a' koDaka'? Em ceruku gaDalu O mOpE
teccEv? Em? migata'di baja'rulO ammEsi ta'gESa'va'?
Appanna: lEdu ba'v. mii remDekara'la guDDila, padi semTlu serukEsina'nu.
komsemu bellamu tiisina'nu. a' migilindi ma' pilla'pa'palu
komsemu tinaTa'niki vumsukoni, miiku pedda mottamiccina'nu.
(guDDi = tOTa or garden)
Jagannadha Bhugta: nOrmuyy! bOsiD.. kE!
He yelled at him loudly, took his left sandal, and beat him
up. Poor Appadu was crying.
I saw this cruel act along with a few friends. After Jagannadha
Bhugta went in side, we took Appanna to the near by tea stall,
asked him to wash his face, gave him food and asked him
why did the land lord behave so. Then Appanna told us that his
father used to cultivate Bhugta's father's land and he inherited
that. He has no other alternative but to suffer this torture.
That time Appanna did not even have 75 paisa to catch a bus.
What will you say about this story? Did you ever see anything
close to this. I saw it. Then I realized why Sri Sri attacks
Booka'mamdulu.
See the one below to know how much Sri Sri knows Marxism and how much
he understood and how much he practised what he preached.
(PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IN RIT)
amtam ka'didi a'ramBam
----------------------
BoomikOsam, Bukti kOsam
sa'gE raitula pOra'Tam
anamta jiivita samgra'mam
ra'julu ma'rii
rOjulu ma'rii
pa'lana cEsE padhdhatima'ri-
ma'ranidokaTEra'-adi
dunnEraitula batukEra'-
sampada pemcE tiiruluma'ri
pampaka'lalO riituluma'ri-
ma'ranidokaTEra' - adi
pEdala a'kali mamTEra'
toorupudikkuna viicEga'li
paDamaTi kaDalini pilicEga'li
toorupu paDamara lEkamcEsE
tuPa'nula' celarEgEda'ka'
BoomikOsam
BuktikOsam
sa'gE raitula pOra'Tam
amtam ka'didi
a'ramBam...........
(Srii Srii, 1973)
EdO tana a'namdamkOsam, ra'jagourava'lakOsam,
dhanadha'nya'lakOsam, BOga'lakOsam, Ba'gya'lakOsam
uccana'kuDupeyyalla' tirugutoo kavitvam vra'sukunEva'Du
ka'Du Sriiramgamva'ru. tana kalamtO kuLLipOtunna
samGa'nnedurkonnava'Du, kaLLumDi coopulEni ama'yaka prajanu
ii pa'papoorita dhanika-ra'jakiiyakiicakulanumDi
rakshimcabOyEvaDu.
amarajiivi Srii Srii!
Sri Sri had no intention to make money while he was in the cine industry.
Nobody dictated what to write for the movies. They used to come to Sri Sri
for specific songs that Sri Sri was the only one who could write. "telugu
viira lEvara" and "pa'DavOyi Ba'ratiyuDa'" are good examples. Sri Sri
mentioned in his vyoolu-rivyoolu "Once I was writing a song for a movie
in the studio. The director, producer, music director, and Sri
Chadalava'da (who was playing the bamTrOtu vEsham in that movie) were with
me." Sri Sri used a gra'mdhika word and Chadalavada asked him to use a
palle word. Sri Sri obliged and did that. That was his open-mindedness.
Of course, the very next day Chadalavada was no more. Sri Sri felt very
bad.
A man of integrity and one-ness, Sri Sri, although a lover and
follower of Sri Gidugu Ramamoorthy pantulu, unlike his drONa'ca'rya,
Sri Sri loved other languages too. Gidudu left Parlakimedi as he loved
Telugu and hated Oriya. Sri Sri wanted Telugus and Oriyas to be close and
friends. Likr India needs, Andhra Desa needs some intellectual inspiration
for integrity and unity. Sri Sri, for the first time struggled for unity,
integrity and awareness among the poor, suppressed, oppressed, and
tortured. Andhra (India) badly needs that message. Sri Sri was the only
man who could do that and he paved the path for other writers of the same
kind. Just for information! Some of the non-Telugu writers even respect
Sri Sri just for his love, understanding, and mastery of his Marxist
philosophy which he successfully used for the social good.
Some one said long time ago that "BAD READERS" do exist just as the
"BAD WRITERS". That is alright. But, if BAD MOUTHS poison the
"INDEPENDENT THINKERS", there lies the problem. We all have to analyze
just based on our own opinions and rational thinking. If some one tells
me that Sri Sri never understood what he did, I should first understand
what Sri Sri was, what his poetic philosophy was, what his poetry was like,
and ultimately what his mission was. Even Bhagavad Gita (The Hindu Das
Capital) says that we have to believe in what we think is right, eventhough
someone else perceives it as wrong - uttamamaina paradharmamu kanna,
niicamaina svadharmamE uttama'tiuttamamainadi.
-------PALANA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSTED TO NURTURE TELUGU LITERATURE AND CULTURE IN NORTH AMERICA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PARANANDI LAKSHMI NARASIMHAM
CAS
COLUMBUS
OHIO
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above are not those of the CAS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------