Re: Puranam Subramanya Sarma no more.
vnrao@facstaff.wisc.edu
Mon, 18 Nov 1996 23:56:52 -0600
The news is sadly true: Puranam Subrahmanya Sarma died. He was a powerful
writer, and a courageous editor. His illaali muccaTlu set high standards of
gentle humor, evocative of the of loving charm of family life. Puranam
wrote lively Telugu, sharp and lyrical at the same time. He was unassuming
and simple but faced oppostion with quiet confidence and extraordinary
courage. As editor he alowed no compromise to authority, no concession to
power.He was probably the only editor in his generation who stood against
the tide of cheap commercialism and bad taste. When people more securely
placed than he was in his job bowed to the wishes of their managers,
Puranam was steadfast in maintaining his editorial integrity and literary
freedom. His knowledge of the values of Telugu culture was profound, as was
his command of Telugu literature.
Puranam was a dear friend of mine. He was a student of Eluru Muncipal High
School, from where I graduated, too. Whenever we met, we used to remember
our old high school teachers, whom we both dearly loved.
Puranam wrote a very valuable biography of Chelam. He was completing a
biography of Viswanatha Satyanarayna. He wrote to me about it last year and
asked me to write an introduction to it. I was planning to see him this
Janurary, and dicuss the introduction with him.
With Puranm's death, Telugu has lost a brilliant writer, and powerful editor.
To me it is also a deep personal loss.
Velcheru Narayna Rao