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.

Srinivasa Rangaswami

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 2^nd 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 inmy hair,there is fire in my heart”. Unplanned retirement is a curse. This section asks us to “Blowout 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