Paying tributes to the masters

The genre which serves not only as a window that provides a clear vision of the contemporary times but also as a mirror that reflects the nature and nuances of the men and the milieu of the period will get the distinction of being the genre of the period. The present phase of Telugu literature is undoubtedly the period of short stories.

Progressive Writers Association, Guntur, brought out a series of Telugu short story collections as a tribute to masters and to encourage the younger generation

As a tribute to the masters, as an encouragement of the younger generation and as a novel way of introducing all of them to the present generation of readers, Progressive Writers Association, Guntur, under the honorary editorship of Penugonda Lakshminarayana and chief editorship of Valluru Sivaprasad brought out a series of short story collections of writers called ‘Kathasravanthi’.

In the first batch a story collection of Chaso, Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao, Madhuranthakam Rajaram, Peddibhotla Subbaramaiah, Kolakaluri Enoch, Kethu Viswanadha Reddy, Allam Seshagiri Rao, P Sathyavathi, Allam Rajaiah and Volga were published. Each one of them was edited by a separate young writer or a critic along with an introduction.

With the encouragement that they got from the readers Sivaprasad has brought out 11 more collections which include the short stories of Sripada Subrahmanya Sasthri, R Vasundhara Devi, Sripathi, Singamaneni Narayana, Ampasayya Naveen, Abburi Chayadevi, Mudiganti Sujatha Reddy, Boya Jangaiah, Poosapati Krishnam Raju, Papineni Sivasankar and A N Jagannadha Sarma. They were released in a special programme at Tirupati on May 1.

A student hand Book of Telugu short story was also released on that day. ARASAM of Guntur published many important books like ‘Old Classical Stories’, ‘Gunturu Story’ among others and has been honoring writers with yearly awards like Kondepudi Srinivasarao Award and Paruchuri Rajaram Award. ‘Kathasravanthi’ series is a new and beautiful feather in its cap and Valluru Sivaprasad, the chief architect of this project deserves many accolades.

Telugu short stories got its perfection from Gurajada Apparao in 1910, though its forerunners began experimenting with it since 1860s. The distinction of Telugu short story is that it arguably has more number of masters than any other literature of a language in the world.

Sripada Subrahmanya Sasthri is the first one among these masters. Scores of his stories deal with the lower-class and middle-class Brahmin families of the Godavari districts. Engulfing the past and the present, tradition and modernity, he always took the side of the suppressed and oppressed and became a champion of feminism also.

He was a perfectionist who finely chiseled and shaped his stories into masterpieces. His grip over the craft is remarkable and many of his stories are in the form of dialogues alone thereby making them dramatic and also authentic.

Gudipati Venkata Chalam’s stories have the emotional and passionate fervour of a feminist and he modeled his stories into powerful weapons to fight with the duel moral code of the patriarchal world. He is a kind of an iconoclast but his powerful conviction and sincerity transformed his stories into works of art.

With a style resembling a cataract that disturbs the heart and havocs the intellect of the readers he created a niche for himself in the realm of short story.

Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao proved how a short story can be transformed into a scientific analysis of the lives of the people. Without resorting to a rhetorical style, and never deviating the realistic mode, he portrayed not only the ways of life but also the mechanics behind it.

Earnestness, reformative zeal, unassuming artistry, down to the earth realism and the scientific temperament are the hallmarks of his stories which are around 500 in number.

Unlike Kutumbarao, Buchibabu focussed his attention more on the psyche of the people than on the economic conditions. His forte is the portrayal of man and woman relationships. He creates a fictional world of his own and though it frequently appears different from the real world, it has the tremendous cathartic effect on the reader and has the strength of transforming him into a highly civilised being. A writer like Buchibabu is a rare phenomenon and it is a privilege for any literature to have such a master craftsman.

In the stories of Rachakonda Viswanadha Sasthry the form and theme are inseparably integrated together. He is adept in the art of storytelling and the effect he achieves by the end of the story is something extraordinary. Some of his initial stories are like modern Upanishads and his later stories are scathing attacks on the callous nature of the state.

Studded with remarkable, striking and extremely original smiles, he weaves the stories enchantingly and spellbindingly.
Kalipatnam Ramarao is known for his cool and calculated approach to the various issues related to the intrusion of the state into the lives of people. He continues a quest for answers that prevail in the society for which Marxism has provided a strong base.

Madhuranthakam Rajaram is a writer who made short story a typical Telugu genre by adopting many local forms and techniques. He is firmly rooted in the Rayalaseema culture and portrayed the exuberance of human relationships which makes his stories universal. Having ardent faith in the positive nature of the man and a zest for living he wrote hundreds of stories which reflect the traditional strength and modern outlook.

Peddibhotla Subbaramaiah taught the “Karuna rasa” to the short story. Downtrodden people, the neglected and unnoticed lot drew his attention and he described the plight of the common man who is denied of even the bare necessities like water and air. With an unyielding commitment he wrote many stories upholding the importance of compassion.

R Vasundhara Devi is a remarkable woman short story writer in whom one can notice the miniature artistry of Jane Austen, the analytical power of Virginia Woolf and an individualistic and courageous attempt to grapple and encode the mysteries of the human existence. Through the consciousness of a common house wife she presents amazing spiritual and philosophical revelations related to the fundamental aspects of life.

Kolakaluri Enoch began his writings as a humanist but became a pioneer of Dalit movement quite naturally. His initial stories reflect fine grip over the form and they are significant vehicles of the issues because of their restraint and art.

Chaso, Palagummi Padmaraju, Munipalle Raju, Malladi Ramakrishna Sasthri, Balivada Kantharao, Gopichand, Balagangadhara Thilak, Satyam Sankaramanchi , Kethu Viswanadha Reddy and many others have enriched the Telugu short story with their contributions. And the next generation of writers is successfully carrying the torch.

By:Madhurantakam Narendra