amerikAlO praprathama SatAvadhAna yagjnam - 5 (ASuvu)
Ramabhadra Dokka (sdokka@st6000.sct.edu)
Thu, 12 Sep 1996 12:09:40 -0400 (EDT)
( This review of NY/NJ SatAvadhAnam is being posted in several parts. )
"praprathama sampUrNa SatAvadhAna yagjnam in U.S. - part 5"
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--- ASuvu ---
ASuvu followed the same lines as varNana with an exception that the meter /
'chanadas' was not specified by the pRchchaka and our avadhAni's selection of
swEchchAvRttams ranged from kandams-SArdUlams-utpalams and an occassional
ATaveladi or tETa gIti. And as I said before, AVADHANI GARU WAS VERY VERY
CONSCIOUS ABOUT NOT LIMITING THE QUALITY OF HIS POEMS OR THE AVADHANA PRAKRIYA
TO THE STANDARD OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED. He maintained his own inimitable
style, his choice of words, his eclectic poetic structure and the gait all
through in reeling those gems of poems improptu. The poems ranged from
prabandha sAhityam - aByudaya sAhityam - anuvAda sArasvatam - Adhunika
kavanam and those poems are proofs of his poetic ability, creativity,
presence of mind and sAmAjika spRha.
Of the 30 ASuvulu delivered during the event added to some of avadhAni gAri
recollections of earlier avadhAnams, I'll list out the ones that caught my
attention. First one is about those 'parents waiting back in India to see
their offsprings who are rather lost in the race of life' and this gem
of a poem has all the pain, sorrow and intensity of feeling that the parents
undergo --
"cUcI cUDani vArikai tapanatO cUpanta navvAripai,
lEcI lEvani ASatO bahu vidhOllIDha praBA kAntilO,
AcandrArkamu velgu gAvuta SrI candrI vyApAra pArINa(ka)
SSrIcandrArkaLa SOBalan kalugagA SrI yancu dIvimpagA.."
What a beautiful thought. Even in the doldrums, they wish good future for
their posterity. It is a factful experience for the souls who tasted this
sentiment, first hand.
Next question was a little child asking her mother on 'How she was born'
and avadhAni gAru upheld our culture portraying the kind of things that
usually go on in many telugu house holds, delivering another lesson in
child psychology and sex education, may be --
"mAyA marmamu lEni pillaliTa ammA nEnu yElAgunO
nIyandu janiyincitO telupavE nijammugA yanna, a
mmAyI mAyala Uyalendulaku, prEmannIku gOrmuddalan
sEyannE tinipincu dAna gadavE citrambu yI lOkamE,
mAyaltOcina nADu tOcu nijamul mannimpavE nETikin.."
and an ATa veladi (my favorite meter, there were not many of these in this
avadhAnam..:-() on the amerikA avadhAnam --
"ATa veladi lEni ATalu lEvulE,
mATa mATA valapu mUTa gAga,
amerikAnu nETi avadhAnamandunan,
ATa veladi vacce telugu gAnu.."
about nETi amerikA yuvata --
"telugu mATlADa lEnaTTi telugu vAru,
kurra tanamu gaikonna kODE kAru,
vAri tappEmi talidanDri vaiBavambu,
viBava vijayammu kOsamai visigi, visigi,
pasi(Di)tanammunu bali cEya pADi kAdu.."
Yes, Sarma gAru has a strong voice of his own in expressing things of this
nature. He upholds the sensibility of the subject in such sensitive issues
echoeing his inner feelings in everyone's raw nerves.
dESAntara vAsamlO, pravAsamlO unna vArandarikI - O nAgaPaNi sandESamidi,
maroka vidhamgA avadhAni gAri heccarika - Bavishyattunu gUrci --
"maruvambOkumu divya samskRtula sammAnambutO yelleDan,
siritO tUgeDi nETi yI amerikA SrImantamun jUci, yam
baramai nilcina BAratIya GaTanA viSEshambulan,
arudou vaidika samskRtI praBavamun, havya ppradhAnambugAn,
birudou nI BAratIya jAti yepuDun pRthvI sthalin ninDugAn.."
padyAlu with five to six lines instead of the conventinal 4 pAdamulu are
common in the ASuvu events and they show the thurst of feelings the avadhAni
is going through while responding to pRchchaka's question.
Sarma gAri philosophy lesson on the maraNAnantara paristhiti was --
"maraName SaraNamu jIviki,
maraNAnataramu puramu mari vIDangAn,
tvaritata karma naSincina
mari yoka jananambu vaccu mahanIyambai.."
(puramu also means 'dEhamu')
'ekkaDarA nI ASukavitvam - anTE idigO ASu kavitvam rAsu koccAnani' annADaTa
nAlATi vADevaDO...:-) Anybody who tried to write something impromptu knows
the difficulty of giving a proper shape to his/her thoughts in the first shot.
In most cases, there will be a second, third... or nth thought to correct it,
or some thing like, "I should have used this word OR infact I meant this
in place of this, I wrote this ORIGINALLY but later corrected it etc..", but
Sarma gAri explanation for this question when asked in Atlanta was "the first
attempt which I put in, I'll try to make it the best". Yes, that kind of
CONFIDENCE is what makes an ASu kavi.
Even if an avadhAni is questioned by a person who thinks himself a
'sarvajnAni', I bet the humble response would be --
"pOTiga nevvarin talupabOnu, SivAni padArcana divya sEmushI,
nAtita cittarangamuna navyamugA talapOyu cunDedan,
mATiki mAtikin migula mAnyatalun, Gana gouravambulun,
sUtiga vaccevIluga sunUnRta vRtti tadIya satkRpA
dhATi yaTancu nenceda tattvamulO para tattvamencucun.."
"yidi lEdani, yidi kAdani,
yidi yEdO valenaTancu, yerugannu (epuDun) nEnai,
adi tAnai vaccinacO,
padamai varamai kRpAbdhi bandhamE anudun.."
kavi annavAdikI, panDituDaina vAdikI prathama lakshaNam iTuvanTi vinayam,
namrata mAtramE.. A vidhamgA tattvamulO paratattvam cUDa galigina vAriki,
prApancikamaina pOTIlu, antarArtham grahinca lEni vAri sparthA pUritamaina
vimarSalU, prakka vAritO sAmya dOshAlU paTTavu...
When avadhAni gAru was explaining that he was "telugE telivaina vADa,
telagANyunDan..", someone asked him what his response would be if as soon
as he returns home, he is asked by a group of MLAs to be the CM --
"nE gavarnaru banglAkui vEga vattu,
mIru pRchchakulai yunDu tIru jUsi,
allavadhAnamu sEyudu nandu gAni,
padavi mAkEla kavitala padavi yunDa.."
He also tried his hand at a 'telangANA poem' and another poem woven in
'telugu, kannaDa and Sanskrit' languages simultaneously, per pRchchakas'
requests.
avadhAni gAru was asked to describe what 'gurajADa and SrI SrI' would talk
to each other if they happened to meet in the world wherever they are --
"gurajADA gurujADa nIdi kadarA, OhO vicArincinan,
siri nIcemmaTa lOnanunnadi kadA SrISrI vicArincinan,
arudai vaccenu nI girISameTulO, kaLyANampu SulkampugAn,
siri muvval mari mrOsi mrOsi alasen SrI SrI kanungonTivE.."
SrI SrI's siri siri muvvalu and gurajADa vAri kanyA Sulkam kaLLa mundu
kadalADaDam lEdU..
After hearing these kind of poems, one can see the amount of truth in saying
that our 'traditional meters are rather NOT suited' for 'aByudaya racana'.
Every meter has it's own beauty and the choice of the 'subject' is never
dictated by the 'chandas', in any language. It is apt on our part to enjoy
these structures as they are, with the subjects that impress us the best and
start putting our thoughts into words (in what ever structure). It behooves
on our part to do all or part of this to preserve our culture, traditions
and literature. The self confidence (Atma vISwAsam) built by KNOWING OURSELVES
OUR CULTURE, OUR TRADITIONS and OUR LITERATURE is the best asset that we can
pass on to posterity that makes everyone PROUD.
Yes, this Atma viSwAsam was all over his poetry and Sarma gAru answered a
question on "what would you ask a king if you happen to meet one ??" in the
line of "Why would I ask some one else ??" when --
"Elavangi vangi evarinO kOraga,
nA kavitva kAnta nannu golva,
Ame karuNa cAlu aKilArthamula vrAlu,
kavita kanna lEdu kaliki minna.."
No doubt, he would be remembered for centuries to come as he wished --
"nUrEnDla pimmatainan,
tArakamuga vEyi yEnDla taruvAtainan,
sAra SSrEyava dhAniga
tIrai gurtuncu konaga dRshTi nilipedan.."
A ASu Sara parampara andamgA tAki manasunAnanda DOlikalUcutOndanE ASistU,
mI praSnaku nA pATa amSamtO maLLi kaluddAm...
regards..
- Ram (Ramabhdara Dokka from sdokka@st6000.sct.edu)