Influence of Independence, Andhra and Telangana Movements on Telugu Poetry

Influence of Independence,
Andhra and Telangana Movements
on Telugu Poetry

Dr. K.V.S. Murti

Indian Independence is perhaps the first great achievement of mankind in the twentieth century, a prelude to the deliverance of many a nation the world over. The achievement of Indian freedom, from the British yoke, is unique in that it was won mostly by the concept of nonviolence sans bloodshed. Indian intellect could spiritually visualize and fuse together Indian philosophy of Jnana-Karma-Bhakti and Western existential politics, for the unique achievement.

Selfless leaders sacrificing their all like Gandhi, Nehru, Balagangadhar Tilak, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Tanguturi Prakasam, C. Rajagopalachari. et al, have all contributed to the grand achievement. But the movement was not without its violent side which also contributed much to the great achievement.

Sri Aurobindo had written in 1918 that since the Indian upsurge in 1905 there had been a new awakening, which came to be known as the Renaissance in India. The spirit of Indian Independence Movement, the ritual of the spinning-wheel (of nonviolence) and the swooping-sword (of violence), pervaded and influenced all walks of Indian life. It left its permanent stamp affecting even Indian literatures in the different languages too, in different ways. The Influence came through direct participation of writers in the movement and through the manifesting atmosphere of the movement as well. The Independence Movement has its effect on modern Telugu poetry also imparting new dimensions to modern Telugu literature.

In the beginning, the influence crystallized in the form of passionate appreciation of everything Indian and the participation of selfless leaders in the movement against the British Raj. In Andhra, writers like chilakamarti Lakshminarasimham, Balejepalli Lakshmikantam, Gurajada Appa Rao, Garimella Satyanarayana, Rayaprolu Subba Rao, Devulapalli Venkata Krishna Sastri, Katuri Venkateswara Rao, Duvvuri Rami Reddy, Basavaraju Appa Rao, Vedula Satyanarayana Sastri, Tummala Sitaramamurti Chawdary, Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Kodali Anjayaneyulu, Jashuva, Karunasri, Indragsnti Hanumat sastri, Ab­buri Ramakrishna Rao, Paidipati Subbarama Sastri, Etukuri Venkata Narasayya, Penumarti Venkata Ratnam, Mangipudi Venkata Sarma, et al, articulated patriotic poetry inspired by the new religion of politics that spearheaded the Independence Movement.

“Passionate love of Mother Bharati and National Leaders” and “hatred and disregard for the British Raj” and “emotional yearning for Freedom of India” pervaded the minds of thinkers. The bisection of Bengal, envisaged by the British, first kindled the wrath of Indians. Gandhi’s proposition of protest through nonviolence and non-cooperation (and later the Quit India Concept) catalyzed the enthusiasm of patriots. All these ideas were given vent to by writers of patriotic poetry. Poets like Chilakamarti Lakshminarasimham have composed first patriotic poems. He writes:

Bharata continent is a fine milch cow;
While Hindus as calves are crying,
Whites the cunning cowherds
Are milking binding their mouths tight!

Garimella Satyanarayana raises his voice high and says: “We don’t want this White regime.” Gurazada Appa Rao inspires the people:

Nation means not soil
Nation means humans,
Love the nation brother
Nourish what is said as good brother.

Rayaprolu Subba Rao preaches:

Whichever country you go to, wherever you set foot,
Whatever dais you ascend, whatever anyone says,
Praise your Mother Bharati,
Keep up your race’s whole dignity!

Poets have praised leaders like Gandhi and Nehru as the great sons born to liberate Mother Bharati from the British bondage. For instance, Cherukuvada Venkata Narasimham pays glowing tributes to Gandhi:

Gandhi Mahatma - ocean of loving pity
Man of pure character - image of righteousness
Bharata nation’s foreign bondage
To remove is born.

Further poets have described the spinning-wheel as the “riches of the starving poor”. Basavaraju Appa Rao paints and worships the tricolour flag in inspiring poetry:

For lion-like heroes red colour
For servants of nation white colour
For devotees green colour
Riches for the poor is the gleam of spinning wheel.

Thus patriotic poets in Andhra have portrayed and glorified every aspect concerning the leaders and Independence Movement, and inspired the people to partake in the ritual of liberating Mother Bharati from the British reign. All this direct writing is committed writing of topical interest, contributing to the success of the Liberation Movement it serves as the mirror of the history and success of the movement.

The Independence Movement has catalysed classic writers too to articulate literary classics inculcating perennial sense of human liberty and dignity. One of such writers is Penumarti Venkataratnam. In his classic poem “Deepavalinadu”, in terms of the myth of the heroic Satyabhama (the consort of Krishna) killing the demon Naraka for the liberation of Bhumata (Mother Earth), the poet conveys the message symbolically that Indian women should fight heroically, smash the demon of the British domination, for the happiness and glory of Mother Bharati. Another great poet Karunasri Jandhyala Papayya Sastri’s book Vijayasri is also an epic conveying the message of heroic fight for achieving the glory of complete freedom. He breathes his inspiration from the myth of Mahabharata. The Pandavas send Lord Krishna to the Kauravas’ court for peaceful settlement, avoiding bloodshed. But Krishna’s mission proves a grand failure. Draupadi insists on avenging the shame caused by the cruel Kauravas attempting to disrobe her in their court. Peace-loving Dharmaraja reluctantly consents for the righteous War of Kurukshetra. Lord Krishna has to revitalise the drooping spirit of Arjuna to flare up for victory. Saturated with literary values and allegorically conveying the message that the glory of freedom should be preserved not only heroically but eternally, the classic is relevant to all times. The symbolic meaning of the epic is that national spirit and Dharma (akin to the Pandavas) should fight heroically the illegal power and evil (akin to the Kauravas, like that of the British), chase it away, and liberate Mother Bharati. The message is conveyed, for instance, in the words of mother Kunti to her sons the Pandavas. She preaches -

The grand message of vow of national glorious ritual
Catching, for freedom catch the bow!
For the future glory of Bharata children
Would progress chariot of independence war.

Krishna’s rejuvenating message to Arjuna also transpires in dhwani or suggestion that Indians should avenge the insult caused to Mother India by the British. It is like Karmayoga, fulfilment of selfless duty to the nation. In the different characters and situations appears a detailed political allegory in the context of the Indian struggle for Independence. But the suggestion of violence for the liberation of India is clearly discernible in all these classics.

The message Independence Movement is similarly symbolized in historical works also sustaining literary beauty and values. Tummala Sitaramamurti Chaudary exploits the historical image of the ideal Sikh hero, Tej Bahadur, to convey his national fervour. Tej Bahadur did not yield to the pressures of the Mogal Emperor Aurangazeb to be faithful to him and his Islam. He is an image and symbol of the Indian national spirit. He says that, if he is killed, from every drop of his blood multitudes of Sikh heroes arise and destroy the Mogal Empire, and deliver Mother India from his clutches. Rajasekhara Satavadhani in his book Rana Pratapa Simha Charitramu, and Gadiyaram Sesha Sastri in his book Siva Bharatamu, in terms of their portrayals of the heroic Rana Pratapa Simha and Chatrapati Shivaji respectively urge the people: “To make national Veena ring happiness, rise up”.

In his book Bharata Swatantrya Sangramamu, Mudigonda Veerabhadra Murti remarkably narrates all the events since the time of the Britishers setting their feet on India, and vividly portrays the details of the Fight for Freedom, at different places in India. The book starts (from the British point of view with the so called Sepoy Mutiny) from the Indian point of view with the First War of Independence for the liberation of India. He portrays Bahadur Shah telling the Indians that the “misfortune of Indian servitude under the British is due to disunity among Hindus and Sikhs and Muslims and that they should unite, forgetting their differenced, and fight”. Thus the poet conveys the spirit of national unity and integrated struggle for the salvation of India. In fact all these classic writers conveyed the message of unity in diversity and heroic sacrifice for the glory of free India and her great future.

III

During the Independence Movement, leaders like Subhas Chandra Bose, Chandrasekhara Azad, et al, of the North and Alluri Sitarama Raju, Subrahmanya Bharati, et al, in the South felt that Independence could hardly be achieved through nonviolent approach only. Such nationalists, supported by intellectuals like Aurobindo Ghose, had gone underground and some of them practised terrorist nationalism against the British. In that approach, nationalists like Amir Chand, Balmukund, Ramprasda Bismil, Asfaqualla, Basant Kumar Biswas, Damodar Chopekar, Bhagat Singh, Avadh Behari, Champak Raman Pillai, et al, laid their lives, becoming victims to the British ruthlessness. The spirit of fighting against injustice, implied in the independence Movement, has been pervading the minds of succeeding genera­tions of Indians even after the achievement of Independence. Un­fortunately the concept of linguistic states, and the language policy, and reservations, and vote-catching techniques have created fissures and schism in the solidarity of the nation. Regionalism and religious fanaticism gradually took roots in India nourished by power-seeking politicians. Indian society has come to be divided against itself polit­ically, religiously, by casteism and sectarianism, ushered by the cult of violence. The situation has its influence of Indian literatures un­doubtedly.

The movement for a separate Andhra State was a kind of semi-violent upsurge of the Andhras. The selfless non-assuming younger political philosopher Potti Sriramulu undertook fast unto death, demanding a separate State for Andhras, knowing fully well that the Government would not yield easily to fulfilling the desire of Andhras. It was after his death as martyr, when the Andhra Movement turned violent, that his sacrifice could bring Andhras a separate state.

Andhra poets were inspired by the Andhra Movement. They articu­lated poetry paying tributes to the Leaders of the movement, like Potti Sriramulu, Tanguturi Prakasam, et al. This topical poetry has catalyzed Andhra Patriotism, spirit and zeal. Telugu poets referring to the past glory of Andhras rekindled the Andhra spirit throught their works. Rayaprolu Subba Rao in his book Andhravali raises the slogan: “My race, my country, my language”. Reinterpreting the past glory of Andhras, for the present fighting generation, he preaches that that inspiration of greatness is to be recaptured by Andhras to keep up their prestige. He reminds Andhras of ‘Telugu Katti’ ‘Telugu Rekha’, and ‘Telugu Vani’, and voices that Andhras should achieve a separate state at any cost. In this context that books like Viswanatha Satynarayana’s Andhra Paurushamu remind of heroic Andhras of an­tiquity like Prataparudra, Krishnadevaraya, Bobbili Paparayudu, et al, and imply that Andhras should breathe their heroism and inspiration afresh, and regenerate that Andhra prestige, and should be able to command even the gods. Tummala Sitarama Murti Chandramurthy reminds Andhra women in the present context that they should transform themselves and imbibe the heroic spirit of the great women of the past and uphold the dignity of Andhra Lakshmi.

The Telangana Movement was again a replica of the Independence Movement, the Telangan patriots fighting the tyranny of the Nizam of Hyderabad and his Razakars. For example, Seshadri Ramana Kavulu in their book Nizam Rashtra Prasasti describe the history of the past Telangana like Anapotana Nayaka, Ganapati Deva, Prataparudra, and Prolaraju; classical poets like Kancharla Gopanna, Somanatha, Modili Singanna, and Srinatha; places of mighty forts as symbols of heroism at Amaravati, Orugallu, and Khammammettu; and inspire the people of Telangana in the context of the movement to rise afresh and revive the ancient prestige and glory of Telangana.

There are again versatile poets like Dasarathi and Narayana Reddi, et al, who gradually changed with the changing times and articulated poetry influenced by the Independence Movement, Andhra Movement, and Telangana Movement. For instance; Dasarathi has started writ­ing first in the romantic manner and gradually gets influenced by the movements. In his anthology Agnidhara, Sustaining literary beauty, he praises India as Ambika and says that she is more glorious that Adilakshmi, Kausthubham, and Kalpakam, for the reason that she is the mother of All. He pays rich tributes to leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, and others as Vattikota Alwaruswami (who unfortunately died prema­turely), as the true sons of Bharata Mata born to liberate the Mother from the British bondage. In his book Mahandrodayam, Dasarathi in ecstatic joy writes that the achievement of Visalandhra is like “Singing of Mango”, and ‘Laughing of Spring’. He not only supported and took part in the Telangana Movement, but has dedicated the book Rudraveena to Telangana he praises Telangana as the kind mother that delivered and brought him up: In the two books, Rudraveena and Punarnavam, supporting Telangana Movement, he describes in detail the heroism of Andhras who took part in the movement, and con­demns the treachery of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Just as the Indian National Congress detested the British for lording it over cruelly ex­ploiting the Indians, Kundurti Anjaneyulu in his book Telangana detests the Nizam’s authority for diabolic bossing over exploiting the Andhras and projects his joy over the success of the Telangana Movement.

He writes:

Prestige-river of race
Breaching banks swelled:
Nawab’s head drooped down to earth.

Others like Ramana Reddy, Gangineni, Kaloji also articulated inspiring poetry in praise and success of Telangana Movement.

Kavikondala Venkata Rao describes Visalandhra as the great mother of Andhra people. Narayana Reddi hails the emergence of Andhra Pradesh in his Divvela Muvvalu:

Making life symbol of fire our Telugu
Man earned today the fruit of ritual!

With immense love for Andhra and the movement, the great con­temporary traditional poet Madhunapantula Satyanarayana Sastri has composed the finest historical epic Andhra Puranamu.

IV

The spirit and zeal of Independence movement has been pervad­ing and flowing through the veins of post-Independence generations also. Fighting injustice and partiality, oppression and deprivation, favouritism and groupism, of the privileged sections and people, in the country, has become the live force of emotional revolt against them. Writers turned fighters for recognition, raising their voices against erring and selfish individuals, governments, managements, and in­stitutions. Poets voiced their anguish and concern for the suffering people and the future generations. A tendency known as “angst”, looking at everything from human existential point of view and the happy progress of mankind economically, socially and intellectually, in time and space, came to be adopted by writers. Three distinct groups of writers, Progressive Poets and Naked Poets and Revo­lutionary Poets, in poetic evolution, came to be identified by virtue of their liberal ideas, aching for freedom and free expression sans restrictions. Poets like Dasarathi and Narayana Reddi started their poetic endeavours first in the tradition of Romanticism, and gradu­ally leaned towards the new trends as they have become the fashion of the day. Srirangam Srinivasa Rao (Sri Sri) can be regarded as a trend-setter and originator of the new poetry. To this group belong poets like Kundurti Anjaneyulu, Bellamkonda Ramadas, Elchuri Sub­rahmanyam, Avamtcha Somasunder, Arudra, Anisetty, Narapa Reddy, Rentala Gopalakrishna, Gangineni, Ramana Reddy, Devarakonda Bal­agangadhara Tilak, Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, et al.

Induced by the spirit of Independence Movement and the conse­quent revolt of protest against injustice, topical or committed poetry came into existence. Of the Progressive Poets, unique writers artic­ulated classic poetry too sustaining perennial literary values. Sistla Umamaheswara Rao in his poetic anthology Navami Chiluka appeals that ignorance in the masses is to be eliminated with revolutionary zeal. In his next anthology Vishnu Dhanuvu, he depicts Lord Sri Rama as Andhra and his love for Sita an nationalism and patriotism.

In fact the inspiration for the poetry of Sri Sri is the neopoetic imag­ination of his own brother Srirangam Narayana Babu embedded in his book Rudhira Jyoti, in which Narayana Babu has championed with progressive urge the cause of the deprived poor against the cruelty and evil of the privileged sections of our society. Sri Sri is a great poet of humanism: he is a champion of the depressed and the underprivileged. The vaulting spirit of revolt (of the Independence Movement) and reform appears even in the very rhythm he has selected for his articulation, which is evident in his classic Mahaprasthanam, as in the following lines:

Move forward, move forward
pushing we will go up and up
Treading march singing song…….

He gives vent to his revolutionary spirit and challenge against oppres­sion and domination very vehemently in the following lines:

Kanakadurga’s roaring lion shaking mane yawned
Indradeva’s mighty elephant roaring challenged…...

He writers for the unity and prosperity of the workers world, and the prosperity of the labourers universe, deploring the attitude of the bossing people. He questions: “what is there to be proud of in the history of any Nation?” and tells that “The entire history of mankind is but servitude under aliens”. Sometimes he strikes from the individual’s point of view, universalism also:

I too becoming world- lotus’s
white petal will be budding!
I too becoming universal veena’s
String will go as musical scales!

Rentala Gopalakrishna asks the people to get up fro their slumber and revolt, to establish a new society of equality and justice.

Expressing all their wrath against the political bosses and the privi­leged people, considering them as “Lords of Flies”, sympathizing with the depressed and suffering classes and championing their cause, leaning towards the Marxist and communist and Naxalite tendencies, some educated and unemployed or underemployed angry young men articulated new type of poetry which has come to be labeled as Digambara Kavita or Naked Poetry: they are known as Naked Poets. Prominent among them are: Kesava Reddy, Veeraraghavachari, Mad­hava Reddy, Bhaskara Reddy, Manmohan Sahai, and Venkateswara Rao, whose pen-names respectively are Nagnamuni, Jwalamukhi, Nikhileswar, Charabandaraju, Bhairavayya, and Mahaswapna. Jwala­mukhi writes that peace cannot be established unless all those who are aged more than fifty years are at once massacred and that re­ligion that debased man should be erased: Nikhileswar writes that there is endless sorrow in the world, and in this age to establish a new society individual sacrifice is important: Charabandaraju feels that melancholy and loneliness are far better than living among the cruel aristocrats and that he has spite and hatred only against God, who has given misery to the deprived: Mahaswapna feels that he is born to tear off the shround covering the world: Bhairavayya intends to be laughing even if science explodes the world, and Volcano bursts in the heart, and desires to make Changalva flowers blossom in cre­mation or burial grounds: Nagnamuni likes the melancholic rumbling in the voice of Saigal, and the dark embrace of the clock-hands at twelve midnight, and he also feels that it is great fortune at least to be able to be breathing in this world of crushing problems. They have used their pen-names as the names of the years; ‘hope’, ‘angu­ish’, ‘tears’, ‘alcohol’, ‘passion’, and ‘melancholy’ are their seasons; ‘friendship’, ‘freedom’, ‘forwardness’, ‘creation’, ‘enlightenment’, ‘end­lessness’, and ‘progress’ are the names of their weeks; ‘dik’ is the name they have adopted to their poetic metre, which turns out to be the unrestricted verse libre. They deplore the misfortune of the peo­ple who are trodden under the iron heals of riches and power, and desire that the present chaotic society should be crazed and a new casteless and creedless economically equal society should be cre­ated, and feel that armed revolution is the only means of achieving a new social order, Mahaswapna writes:

Becoming opening third eye
Becoming bow on the fiddle of time
Becoming cyclone on slumber-sea of history
Naked Poet an coming.

The spirit of Freedom Movement and the cult of violence are thus clearly visible flowing through the name and nature, ideas and ideals of the Naked Poets. They wish to disrobe society and expose the naked truth of suffering and injustice and evil in Andhra and the entire India.

While the Naked Poets are the more dynamic successors of the Progressive poets, the Revolutionary Poets are the most dynamic successors of the Naked and Progressive Poets. They are more violent in tendency. The selfish destructive politics in the country is the propelling force of their poetic articulation: they prescribe armed revolution particularly for moving social and economic in equality and creating employment and occupational opportunities for all for happy living. The aim of these writers is to earn freedom to the suppressed and deprived classes. Through their writings, they intend to educate the common people and streamline their attention for revolution against the governing institutions. They believe that the political and economic systems have become rotten and hence they are to be rejected. and selfless and competent and noble-minded persons should be entrusted with the task of rehabilitating justice and equality. “It is the moral responsibility and duty of the people to regain the lost soul of they Society.” Kundurty Andjaneyulu says: “Marxist and Communist idealism is the bone of the Progressive and Naked and Revolutionary Poets.” In the poetry of these three groups of writers the same cult of violent (Independence) movement appears infiltrated gradually narrowing down from the wider outlook of national freedom and glory to the narrow outlook of individual liberty and benefits.

V

The Independence Movement undoubtedly imparted new dimensions to Indian poetry, including Andhra-poetic muse, which are peculiar to Indian literatures. There is a transition from the wide-ranged ob­jective romantic imagination to a concrete individualized subjective realism, in the context of the Independence and Andhra and Telan­gana Movements and life in independent India and Andhra.

Telugu poetry too has contributed to the success of the triple move­ments in India and Andhra and Telangana, inspiring even unpoetic minds to selfless action. Slogan-shouting has taken deep roots in po­etry. Andhra poets have become bold to rebel against established injustice and evil of administration and society, and serve as social reformers. Poets have explored and exposed the deeper regions of human psyche and personal problems making a plea for rectifica­tion. Thus Telugu poetry today has become more mundane. Po­ets in exposing psychological depths have adopted new techniques like stream-of-consciousness, self-styled metres, free verse, prose-poetry, only exhausting all possibilities to the point of decadence in poetic imagination. Half-baked younger poets talk of social aware­ness, without knowing even its name and nature, today. Now there appears a tendency for a healthy revival, a yearning for glorification of poetic articulation, which in Sri Aurobindo’s sense can be “Over­head Poetry”. Untouched by Atropos, let Clothos preside over, and Lachesis bless the muse to be immortal nourishing national unity, prosperity and glory!