ENGLISH
MILLENNIUM MISCELLANY: G.V. Joga Rao; Latha Publications, 2008, Babukhan Estate, Bashirbagh, Hyderabad-500 001; pp224+48; Rs.100/-
As Prof. Chalapati Rao, rightly said in his foreword, this book by Sri S.V. Joga Rao, who has been a Lecturer and Head of Department and occupied several distinguished offices in the educational field, is a happy though haphazard collection of literary essays which reveal his erudition and mastery over the English language and literature. There were also some in Telugu, which wrote for the several issues of the College magazines on various topics and also, transcripts of radio interviews. That sums up the Millennium Miscellany.
Though several scholars deride Macaulay’s system of education which turned out clerks for the Company and later the Raj, English language has thrown open the windows to the outside world and let in refreshingly fresh breeze and contact with English writers and literature. Sri Joga Rao attempts to recollect the niceties and finer points of various noted writers such as Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Shelley and other classical writers. A good collection in this are his talks broadcast on various topics from time to time. His essays on ‘Literature and Life’ and
‘Literature and Science’ are masterly. Some articles are in lighter vein like the “Who is not a henpecked husband?” and “My experiments with Untruth”. He touches a wide spectrum of writers from Chaucer to Stienbeck and George Orwell to Indo-Anglian writings.
He shares with the readers his vibrant views on a wide variety of topics on literature, litterateurs, books and other miscellany. It is indeed an appealing and informative miscellany!
-Vemaraju Narasimha Rao
UNDER PRESSURE: Keshav Malik; Samkaleen Prakashan, 2762, Rajguru Marg, Paharganj, New Delhi-110 055; Rs.80/-; US $5/-
This book is a collection of smart poems by Shri Keshav Malik, a Padmashri award winner of 1991. The common-place titles of the poems in the book – Jack and Jill, The Hand, Three Cheers, A Resting Place, Search – and so on do not seem to convey anything that is common-place or simple. The meaning is beyond the comprehension of an average intellect. One has to rack one’s brains in order to understand what the poet has in mind.
For example,
“Now let the increased crow furrow and before the seeing eyes cause the rapids of darkness to come to the fore and roar;
Let milk befog the transparent tea in the China cup, and then stir to a brisk that sugared cloud so it spin demented circles like a hunted bear.
and so on.
To quote another example from “This man, before me.”
“Stranger, Stranger, play you the fool – shall your head – bulb flash, capture the mind – boggling whole? --”
It is like modern art in poetry – Reading the book is a good exercise for one’s intellectual stamina.
There are some lines, though not so obscure. I quote from “At a Price”; “Salvation?…but there is a price to pay
………………………………….
the indomitable will to work
is the one sure way which is recommended”
“Astronaut” is interesting.
“How high I rose
………………………..
soared without a trace of panic.
………………………..
and from there like a hawk surveyed the starred horizon – on nothing except rare ether hung.”
-A. Satyavathi
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES (Proverbs retold in Verse); Tulsi Naidu;
TRADVERSE & FRIENDS; 21-46/1, Kakani Nagar, N.A.D. Post Office, Visakhapatnam–550 009; Rs.30/-
The book is a new idea. Dr. Tulsi uses proverbs – those timeless capsules of wisdom in her lines of poetry and it looks as if each line of her every poem is meant to enlighten young minds for whom the book is essentially meant as the poetess mentions in her foreword. The old proverbs are interlaced in her lines of poetry with new aphorisms, which are in no way inferior to the time-tested age-old sayings of the past.
The book is valuable in helping young minds to become acquainted with values of human life which are so essential for success and happiness in life.
To quote a few examples,
“Fruition dwells on Labour’s mountain top”
“The work-not” men comprise the “have-not” clan
Somelines are worthy to be remembered by one and all forever. For example:
“Deeper wounds than steel the tongue can cut,
which even Dr. Time may fail to heal.”
“The garb of modest man is civility”
“Your own conduct you yourself construct”
“Keep rowing on and rest not on your oars.”
“To success there are more doors than one,
each and every door is never shut.”
“From a single grain, no bread can we obtain”
Some lines are superb not only for the thought-content but
also for their lyrical quality.
“A man of words is like a field of weeds;
A man of deeds is like a garden of flowers;
The former does not plan his planting of seeds,
The latter picks, for sowing, the season of showers.”
It’s beautiful.
There are many such passages in the book. In another verse
she says,
“…………….Truth is “purity”
A “Liar” is another name for “Thief”
Towards the end of the book are two sections, one giving a list of the old proverbs used in her poetry and another section listing the “New Aphorisms” so that the reader can differentiate the old from the new sayings.
I can only say, the book is a noble contribution not only to literature but also to the field of education and should reach out to one and all of the student community.
-A. Satyavathi
RANDOM THOUGHTS by Dr. C. Jacob; published by Duggirala Publishers,
6-3-668/10/45, Durga Colony, Panjagutta, Hyderabad-82; Pages60; Price Rs.30/-
The book under reviews belongs to a different category. Inspired by the radical and revolutionary nature of the opinions on life, death, society, religion, the scriptures, gods and umpteen other topics, material, moral and spiritual expressed fearlessly and with an astonishing frankness by Dr. Nanduri Ramakrishnamacharya, an eminent teacher, scholar, administrator and above all a poet par excellence, in his poems, Dr. Jacob took up the task of rendering into English poetry Dr. Acharya’s poems in respectful admiration of his teacher’s
‘citizen of the world’ outlook of life.
Dr. Jacob, an untiring judge by profession, took up the arduous task of rendering into English more than forty poems, long and short, mainly from or Acharya’s book “ALOCHANAMU” and other works with a religious fervour. He goes about his job with confidence and aplomb, be it a single stanza poem or a long poem, churning out words and expressions to suit the sentiment and the situation. Aided by a maturity of thought and a deep and wide reading Dr. Jacob succeeds to a very large extent in his effort, now expanding, now explaining, choosing a simple and direct diction, using rhymes occasionally. ‘Thimmarusu’s Soliloquy’,
‘The Snapped Girdle’, ‘God’, ‘Progress’, ‘Moral’ among other poems are worth mentioning in this context.
RANDOM THOUGHTS, a literary garland of gratitude by an old student to a “teacher, preacher and prophet” was released on the occasion of the 80th birth day celebrations of Dr. Acharya at a largely attended public meeting graced by poets, novelists, critics and writers on
29-4-01 in Hyderabad. The well-wishers and friends of Dr. Acharya and Dr. Jacob and lovers of literature in general will find the book of absorbing interest.
Fringe flash: That an ardent student should express his veneration to his teacher through an intellectual exercise and that another teacher of the same student should review his student’s work is a happy co-incidence.
-D. Ranga Rao
CREATIVE ANALYSIS AND OTHER WRITINGS; by Dr. Sanjiva Dev. Published by Dr. Sanjiva Dev Foundation, 4-13-8, Ithanagaram, Tenali, A.P., Pages 292;
Price Rs.100/-
The volume contains essays mostly on art, architecture and sculpture with a few chapters on the philosophy of human life and a brief essay on Jiddu Krishnamurti.
As one reads through the essays one is struck by the flow of thoughts pouring out in a torrent of words, weaving their magic patterns and pictures as in a kaleidoscope, sparkling, enlightening and ever changing. Each essay is an architectural marvel, not a niche left out without a sculptured ornament, the ornaments being words, phrases and sentences spelling out poetry, logic and profound thought. Deft definitions and lucid explanations mark the sequence of his thoughts. Dr. Dev conveys his message in his inimitable style on stones and saints, on truth and goodness, on painters and poets, on history and human life and the list goes on as if there is no end to it. Profound thoughts are presented in a clear and candid manner, in a solid yet transparent style. Whether he talks of philosophy or aesthetics, metaphysics or language, the author does it with consummate skill, natural artistry and grace. Every sentence encasing a thought is a veritable quote. The beauty of his presentation is to be read, experienced and enjoyed. The style is the man.
Some of the paintings of Sanjiva Dev have been reproduced in black and white in the volume. One wishes the publishers had printed them in colour.
The volume, which at once enlightens, enlivens and elevates the mind is worth possessing in every home and library. The publishers deserve to be congratulated for planning to bring out Dr. Sanjiva Dev’s works in seven volumes.
-D. Ranga Rao
TELUGU
DIGIVACHCHINA ARUNDHATI AND OTHER STORIES; Janaki Jani; 67-17-1, Lalbahadur Nagar, Kakinada-533 003; 2000; 92 pages; Rs. 80/-
Two themes recur in Digivachchina Arundhati. The poverty of the educated middle class;
the frustrations of married life. Mundane enough as these themes of (real and filmy) situations are, Janaki Jani is able to lift them up to a higher plans by his uncanny ability to play the end game like O. Henry. We continue to stay in the given context, but with a definite change in the angle of vision. Life is not the same any more. “Rajasekharamgaru aasaajeevi” clinches “Desires, Coconuts” with a sharp knock. So does the “daridram pattina manishi” that gives the tittle to Ramamurthy’s hopeless poverty.
If Janaki Jani has a way with the concluding syllables of a story, he has also a close relationship with the heritage icons. There are two Arundhatis in this collection. The Arundhati of “Yathakaashtamcha kaashtamcha” represents the vast army of young maids who become sacrificial lambs at the altar of money yet keep an ancient flame undimmed in their innermost being. The Arundhati who gives the tittle for the volume is also a representative of the unfortunate women who become victims of razzmatazz.
The significance of the title lies in Janaki Jani’s wily distancing from the Ahalya of Valmiki’s epic by a change innomenclature. Valmiki’s Ahalya had yielded although she knew that it was Indra who had come to her in the sage’s dress: matim chakaaradhurmedhaa devaraajkutuhalaath. But she realised her folly and endured the flames of tapasya to be redeemed and reunited with Sage Gotama. Janaki Jani does not want the parallel to be too obvious though the situation is a very contemporaneous one. He has chosen the name of another great pativrata as the name for this heroine. Arundhati who is regarded as the shining star of charity, an exemplary model shown to the newly wed bride and groom in Hindu weddings.
Arundhati goes away from home because her hard-working husband has no time for romantic claptrap. Mohan Rao abandons her after living with her for a few months. Alone, helpless, Arundhati decides to sin no more. Leading a life of abject poverty for a few years, she finds herself confronting her erstwhile husband, Krishnamurti. To her surprise, Krishnamurti accepts her and says words that were left unsaid by Valmiki:
“It is human to err. But it is wisdom (vijnaata) when one takes care not to err again and again”. Forgiveness is all in this world of human affairs where we do meet and part like pieces of wood in a flowing stream. Such a gentle presentation marks all the stories rightly commended by Sri Seshendra Sarma, Dr. Kovela Suprasannacharya and Dr. Poranki Dakshinamurti whose introductory remarks are themselves three insightful essays in literary criticism. But who made the expressive line-drawings for the stories? Scenes like Vimala watching the children play the top, Kamesam’s return to youth times and Suhasini’s bitter revenge on the male of the speeches are given three dimensional effect making Digivachchina Arundhati a sure approach to sanity.
-Prema Nandakumar
NA CYPRUS YATRA; Dr. N. Gopi; Published by Chaitanya Prachuranalu, Hyderabad; July 2001; pages 73; price Rs. 30/-
NA CYPRUS YATRA (My Journey to Cyprus) by Dr. N. Gopi makes the reader share the thrill the learned Vice-Chancellor of the Telugu University, Hyderabad., experienced during the Commonwealth Universities, Vice-Chancellors’ Conference held in April this year, on Cyprus, island seven thousand miles away from the place of his work, Cyprus, which has nostalgic memories with Greece of the classical times.
Dr. Gopi gives brief but vivid descriptions of Dugai touched both ways and Cyprus with the mature mind of a poet-critic yet with the wonderment of a child. The author takes the reader along, showing places with a running commentary, thinking aloud now and then, making pertinent remarks comparing the picture there and the picture here in India on political, governmental and social conditions with which the reader agrees for, facts speak the truth. The poet in the Vice-Chancellor peeps out now and then in the narrative.
There is humour in the narrative and the reader is tickled to laughter at some of the incidents narrated with unassuming frankness
– the automatic looking device of the room-door in the hotel looking out the learned Vive-chancellor in his Andhra casuals, the ‘lunch’ served during the conference which left the distinguished visitor hungry and the like to name a few.
The book contains apart from the proceedings of the Conference brief historical accounts of the places visited, the social and political life of the people of Greece, the mountains, the forests, the seas, the highways, the buses, the fruits (some of which the author dared not eat for they were strange looking with names unheard of and tastes unknown), the flowers (particularly the Yasmin, the cousin of the Indian Jasmin, the land, the soil, the sands, the rocks, the birds, the beasts, the beeches and the beautiful faces of the women, the descendents of Venus, their goddess and the Telugus living Cyprus.
The small but enjoyable book ends with a poem greeting and expressing the author’s gratitude to Cyprus, the lovely land which, “seems to have descended from heavens into the Mediterranean sea like a dream drop.”
- D. Ranga Rao
