BOOK REVIEWS
ENGLISH
THE
MOVING SPIRIT: (An Anthology of Poems) Dr C. Narayana Reddy; Viswambhara Vision
Publications, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033, pp 113; Rs. 200/- or US $. 20.
Dr. C. Narayana Reddy’s is a household name for Telugu literature, culture and especially poetry.
His innate sense of rhythm and his command over the language and grip over the
classical and neo-literary trends makes his songs and poems instantly appealing
and catchy. It is a treat to hear him recite some of his lyrics himself. Many
of his compositions used by the Radio and the Cinema were fabulous hits and are
remembered even now with nostalgia. He is a poet par excellence. In
addition to his being a humanist, a politician, a cultural ambassador and an
outstanding orator.
Seventy of his pieces were selected for translation into English from
Telugu by a group of nine writers proficient in both the languages that makes “THE
MOVING SPIRIT”, move spiritedly.
Some how, one does not help feeling a sense of dissatisfaction - not
because the translators lack the skill, but
because, in the nature of things, a translation at best conveys
the essential thought and very often misses the beauty of the original (in entirety).
And, this is more particularly true of poetry. E.g. The Ramappa Temple, (“Raala
lopala poolu poochina”). No translation can bring
you the original’s appeal, either in the choice of words or the lilting rhythm.
The translators deserve congratulations for the splendid work they have
done in preserving and projecting the finer nuances and the rich imageries for
which Dr. Reddy is famous in the original work. It would have been desirable to
indicate the translator’s name at the end of each piece, so that the reader identifies each of
them.
“Greed hovers all over like a desert storm” (P88)
“Let renunciation renounce itself” (p 92)
When asked- “How Come you are not saving even a single drop”, the cloud replies- “Does mother drink her own milk?” (p 105) Imageries such as these fill one’s heart with aesthetic joy
at the author’s ease with which he weaves the poetry.
In “Adoption”, a daughter is adopted by Christ, Allah, Buddha, Lenin,
Lincoln, Gandhi, King, Kennedy, Jawahar, Lal Bahadur .... One is tempted to ask
were there no such great figures in earlier times, when this country taught
spiritualism and message of peace to the entire world?
A must for poetry lovers and an adornment for any library.
- Vemaraju
Narasimha Rao.
REFLECTIONS
OF/ON LIFE: Karunnaa, Minerva Press, New Delhi, pp. 91, Price Rs. 70/-.
The modestly, if
somewhat prosaically, captioned Reflections
of/on Life by Karunnaa (the shy Dr. Nithie Victor hiding behind his
pseudonym) is a set of delicately sculpted poems by a hand that seems as
skilful as it is sure of its grip over its medium. These verses are a
connoisseur’s fare. They delight us not only by the freshness of the
perceptions they offer but, equally, by the Poet’s fascinating use of the
language which has no place for the hackneyed or the commonplace in imagery or
expression.
What we prize in a piece
of poetry is the uniqueness of its author’s personal angle of vision, held in
focus by him, as never before. A gift for compact, precise, graphic description
is another of the striking features of the poems in this collection.
All fun
ripped from life, and laughter from his lips
teased and
bullied off the school
landed in a
circus, tailor-made for clown.
The Poet becomes
deliciously sensuous, at times brimming over to the erotic, when it comes to
delineation of the fairer half of the human species. ‘The Woman’ is all
about how the Master Craftsman created the woman. Here the Poet breaks into
lyrical exuberance while detailing how with care God sculpted:
Shapely legs
as smooth as plantain stem
like a willow
hip so tender, supple
as mammalian
gifts twin mangoes ripe
warm heart
pliant like warmed wax ...
lips syrupped
with forest honey pure …
cheeks as petals of the
rose to feel.
Verbal luminosity that
matches with the novelty of poetic perception, is what accosts you all over the
place. To pick up at random some of the memorable ones:
‘lilting
twitters of bright coloured birds
peck the
silence, break the shell’ (The
Spring Arrives)
‘That lone
sail …………
amidst the
vast expanse of quiet
pulsating sea
with leaping fish for company’ (The Lone White Sail)
A deep-running sympathy
for the suffering quietly flows through Dr. Victor’s poems - be it, for
example, in his account of the fallen woman, the begging mother with her child
in midday summer, the cane Juice vendor or Raju, the ragpicker. Most of the
poems come with a thought-provoking message and in many cases the caption
itself gives a clue to the Poet’s thinking or where his sympathy lies. And
every poem is wrapped up with a clinching thought, which ties up tidily with the
caption.
In sum, this collection of poems by Dr.
Nithie Victor is an unusual fare, for one to sip and savour ... and linger on
... to fully absorb the beauty of the newness of its perceptions and its verbal
enchantment.
SRI
VAISHNAVA CORE STUDY: Q & A; Prof S. Narayanan; Sri Ramanuja Mission, RH
44/1, Alhad, Sudamanagar, MIDC Phase IX, Dombivili, Mumbai 421 203; pp. 125; Rs
25/-
THE
ALVARS, Prof. C. Jagannathachariar; Sri Ramanuja Mission, RH 44/1, Alhad,
Sudamanagar, MIDC Phase IX, Dombivili, Mumbai 421 203
These two
books, published by the Ramanuja Mission, Dombivili are useful in throwing
light on the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya and the essence of the scriptures and
disciplines.
The first
book exp1ains the core of the Vaishnavism through Questions and Answers in an
easily readable to comprehensible manner. The second one gives brief life
sketches of the 12 Alwars, the Sri Vaishnaba Mystics, who propounded the
Visishtaadviata and a Bhakti tradition. It a1so gives a brief exposition of the
contributions of each of the Alwars to the development of thought.
Both are
helpful for those who are interested in trying to have a grasp on the essence
of the Visishta Advaita, of the great seer Ramanuja.
Vemaraju Narasimha Rao
‘CULTURE CAPSULES - ART OF LIVING’, Prof. I. V. Chalapati
Rao; Sri Yabaluri Raghavaiah Memorial Trust, pp. 168, Rs. 60/-
Prof. I. V. Chalapathi Rao’s
latest book ‘Culture Capsules - Art of Living’ contains his selected and revised Editorials appearing
in ‘Senior Citizen’
and ‘Twilight life’.
Releasing the book on 2nd October 2002, the former Prime Minister,
Sri. P. V. Narasimha Rao said, “Prof. I. V. Chalapathi Rao is a thinking person. His thoughts come from deep reflection
of life, which makes him stand out from the other authors. The present book is not just a book with
a content comprising what others say. It is such a good book
that it can be termed as compendium or a companion, to be read by one and all. For there is no
bigger crime than reading a book despite owning it”.
Swami Paramarthananda, President of Rama Krishna math, Hyderabad
wrote the preface.
The author dedicated the book to his wife Smt. I. Sita Devi, who passed
away recently. The book, which contains 61 topics is divided into 3 sections. The first part ‘CULTURE
CAPSULES’ deals with topics like Educational Heritage, Indian Culture, World Outlook; Religion
and Spirituality. These topics are specially relevant to the modem youth. The
rich cultural heritage of our country and glorious traditions that we cherish
must be of special interest to the present generation. The themes in this section - ‘What
Smritis Say” ‘Deliverance’, ‘Questioning
and Independent Thinking’, ‘Communication in a Ancient India’ etc., are thought provoking.
The second section; “Art of Living”,
discusses topics like ‘Creativity and Intuition’, ‘Society,
Friendship and Human Relationships’, ‘Nature
and Environment’, ‘Will Power’, ‘Lessons” From Mahabharata’. The themes are vitalizing and they bring about a change in our perception and
attitude to life and its problems. Art of life requires that we should
turn on our green lights (positive thinking) and switch off our red lights
(negative thoughts). If we are unhappy, we need a change of thought,
not a change of place or climate or activity or job.
The last section ‘Twilight Years’
gives wise counsel as to how to lead an active and happy life after retirement
and in old age. The twilight years are the period of fulfillment and rehewal.
Old age is golden age. Harindranath Cnatopadhyaya said at the age of 92, “Though there is snow
in my hair, there is fire in my heart”. Unplanned retirement is a
curse. This section asks us to “Blow out 100 Birthday candles” cheerfully and energetically.
On the whole, it has an easy to read simple approach that takes the readers
from ancient wisdom to scientific thinking. It helps the reader to find
potential and enhance it to the maximum through self-audit and inspiration
derived from its illuminating sentences. The book has to be
treasured by everyone as we find very rarely such books of cultural value
combined with practical utility. The cover page is designed in a novel way by
presenting the visual graphics of the photographs that span a period of nearly
50 years of the octogenarian author’s life. Prof. Y. Sreedhar Murthy, the Publisher, deserves
all praise for bringing out the book aesthetically and fixing a low price to
bring it within the reach of every reader.
- I. Satya Sree
TELUGU
VYYAASAKA
NYAYAMALA
Sri Akella Sitarama Sastry; Beside Ramakrishna Kshetram, Kamakotinagar,
Vijayawada 520012, pp 209; Rs. 100/-
This is a
trans1ation of Madhava Vidyaranya’s Sanskrit commentary on BRAHMAN SUTRAS, the
statesmen-guru of the Vijayanagar empire and an eminent scholar and authority
on severa1 religious texts.
As most of
the texts and commentaries on them are in Sanskrit, any attempt to translate
these into Telugu to help those who do not have proficiency in Sanskrit to read
the original texts and understand them. The title is aptly put. Vyyasaki
denotes that the origina1 basic text is by the Sage Vyaasa; and nyaaya
the adhikaranas in the book.
Sri Akella
Sitarama Sastry is a great scho1ar of renown and he has done a great service to
the common folk in authoritatively
translating the commentary of ‘Vidyaranyaswami on tha Brahma sutras.
His work is true to the original text as has been opined by the eminent scholar
Dr Nori Bhogiswara Sarma of Kovvur and others.
The eternal
quest of man has been to find out more about the Paramatman who created
this world inhabitated by 8.5 million living beings. “Adhato brahma
jijnasa”. This book is certainly one of the best of its kind to luminate
the philosophical minds.
- B.
Lakshmanacharyulu
OORAGAYA
NAVVINDI, (Humorous Stories) Dr. K.R.K.Mohan; 101, Kanchi Residency, P & T
Colony, Hyderabad 500 060; PP 360, Rs 160/-
Satire is defined as “an indignant and veiled protest
against evils rampant in social behaviour, in human nature or institutions”.
The book of stories, under review, by K. R. K. Mohan, does not fail the test of
this definition. It is indeed a protest against the evils in the society around
us and is naturally veiled in the satirical form. Humorous writings in Telugu
are not in short supply either in quantity or quality. These stories, 79 in number,
are rich in subtle humour and touch the heart gently, and compel one to reflect
on each of the topics touched therein.
The conversational style helps sustaining ‘the reader’s
interest Dr Mohan’s forte is in scientific fiction but even here, his humour is
natural and provides comic relief. The illustrations are enlivening and
enlightening. His story “God Forsaken” may or may not stand beside Palagummi’s
GALIVANA. But the fact it got selected for P.E.N.’s anthology is itself
creditable and some thing to be proud of.
It is but fitting that this book is dedicated to
Munimanikyam Narasimha Rao, one of the pioneers of modem Telugu humourous
writing. This is certainly a good tonic for one’s health.
-Dr. DWA. NA
Sastry, Amalapuram