Sing kokila, sing the Telugu song

Devulapalli Krishnasastry called it Telugu language’s very own Geetanjali. With it, he said, a new era began in the Telugu literary history. ‘Ekanthaseva’ by Venkataparvatheeswara Kavulu is Telugu language at its lyrical best

When I went to Mexico as a member of a literary delegation sent by Sahitya Academy way back in 2005, I read a story in Telugu to a literary gathering of Mexican writers and poets. All of them including my fellow members of the delegation- one of them from Lucknow and the other from Mumbai - didn’t know Telugu and so they couldn’t understand what I read.

But all of them unanimously congratulated me saying that it was the most musical language that they had ever heard. I do cherish those moments complacently even now. There is a unique book of poems which I do remember whenever I think of the great sonority of my mother tongue, Telugu. It is ‘Ekanthaseva’ by Venkataparvatheeswara Kavulu.

One of my foremost memories of childhood is that of sitting in the lap of my father under the blanket he covered himself with during the early hours of morning before the dawn of the winter, and overhearing my father’s mellifluous recitation of ‘Ekanthaseva’. Then I was only a kid of 4 or 5 years old and didn’t bother with the meaning of it but got enthralled by the sheer musicality of the text. I heard my father reciting many poems but the ecstatic way that he recited ‘Ekanthaseva’ was matchless.

Madhuramuga maardavamugaa manjulamuga
Maanasaanandakaramugaa mangalamuga
Paadavemamma kokilaa paadaveme?
(Sweetly, tenderly and elegantly
Making the heart happy and sanctifying
Why can’t you sing, Kokila, why can’t you sing?)

My poor translation not only reflects the untranslatability of poetry, but also the delicate sonority of Telugu that is impossible to be grasped using any other language. Writing an introduction to it in his inimitable way, Devulapalli Krishnasastri, the great Telugu Romantic poet, said, ‘Ekanthaseva’ is to the Telugu language Rabindranath Tagore’s Githanjali is to the Bengali.

The mellifluent and sonorous Rabindrasangeet comes closer to the musicality and euphony of ‘Ekanthaseva’ but the former’s themes, however great, universal, lofty and poignant they might be; are not as tender and delicate as the theme of ‘Ekanthaseva’.

‘Ekanthaseva’ consists of 62 small poems. The poets chose manjari dwipada, thetagiti and ataveladi , the metres of desi origin for composing them. All these poems are expressions of longings of a lover for her love. They remind us of the songs of Mira as the poet (I don’t understand how two human beings could collaborate and write a single poem. I do believe that writing, like living and dying, is done alone.

But there are many such collaborating poets and dramatists all over the world and the analysis of the process of such collaborations remains an enigma for ever as most of them never disclosed how they dovetailed together to become an organic and unified voice. Like marriage and friendship, the fruitfulness of such collaborations reflects the heights of culture and civilization) considers herself as a woman and the God as her husband. They can be looked at as prakuthi and Purusha, human soul and eternal soul.

All the poems in ‘Ekanthaseva’ pass through the delicate mood in between meaningful agony and impulsive longing. Like the crystal clear pure water in the natural pools at the feet of the hills, like the virgin breeze on the peaks of secluded mountain cliffs, like the dazzling blossomed white lotus flowers at dawn in a forlorn lake, these songs are fresh, graceful, refreshing and mystically cathartic.

We can read them, enjoy them benignly, but find it extremely difficult to describe and analyze them. I don’t think that such a concert of literature exists in any other language and Telugu literature alone can and has the privilege of having such a mellifluous discourse.

This unique and extraordinary book was published by Andhra Pracharini Limited in Kakinada in 1938. P Ramaswami, who wrote an English introduction compared it to St. Bernard, William Wordsworth, Sufi mystic Mirza, Madam Guyon, Vashnav Devotees of India, but finally, simply, tried to express his rapturous experience as he too found it impossible to interpret.

Writing a Telugu Introduction Devulapalli Krishna Sastry simply discussed its importance saying, “Now finally the dawn of spring happened in Telugu Literature. Renaissance has taken place. New grandeur is added. New tenderness to the songs, new softness to the tendrils, new relish to the births, new sweetness to nectar, new tone to the elegant voice. This spring has brought a new splendor, wonderful beauty and an inimitable charm to the goddess of the gardens. A new era began in the Telugu literary history.”

While writing this article I have been realising the inability of the words in describing and analyzing the beauty of this great book of poems. Why should we indulge in such futile exercises rather than singing it in raptures:
Pranayavanambu Lopali Pushpa Rathamu
Thummeda! Vevega tholi thevamma.