The long and short of philosophy

Dr Boya Subramanyam Reddy, an avid reader of philosophy, brought out an anthology of Telugu philosophical stories way back in 2002. It’s high time, there is one more such addition

That the Short story is the prime genre of contemporary Telugu literature is amply asserted in the way that it reflects all the aspects and nuances of life of man today. One of the important proofs to that claim is the Telugu philosophical story, which is arguably stronger than many of its counterparts of other literatures.

The Telugu short story has been trying to find answers to a number of questions about the nature of the existence of the man. In his popular allegorical story, ‘O Puvvu Poosindi’, Chalam portrays the entire life of a being from the birth to death poetically and symbolically. The allegorical form has given ample room for the discussion of worldly issues like man- woman relationship as well as metaphysical things like the relationship between Athma and Paramathma.

What is the basis for the relationship between two beings? Who can tell you where should two souls reunite and what are the boundaries between them? Viswanadha Sathyanarayana gives answers to these questions in his own way in a story called ‘Yemi Sambandhamu’. In his story, ‘Charama Rathri’, Sri Sri questions the basic theory of the Capitalist society, which was responsible for the world wars. He dreams of a world in which every individual works wholeheartedly and derives happiness not only to himself, but also to the others. Gopichand believes that the very question - what is the need for living - is meaningless. He asserts that living itself is happiness. (Asha Jyothi)

In his popular story, ‘Galivana’, which had procured the world renowned recognition to the Telugu Short Story, Palagummi Padmaraju observes that man can’t keep his self imposed discipline intact as he cannot but surrender to the forces of the nature, within himself and also outside. It implies the ancient Indian belief that the man grows matured only when he obeys the forces of nature. Life is all about violence, says Rachakonda Viswanadha Sasthry in his story, ‘Sristilo’…

Every being in the nature inevitably survives by consuming another being. The Indian sages never acclaimed asceticism and renunciation of the society. Even a rustic of our country side believes that the death of a person along with many others is not different from a marriage. Moreover one who is not afraid of the death is the person who procure salvation.(Jeevanmukthudu-Madhuranthakam Rajaram)The captain’s wife in Vakati Pandurangarao’s ‘Karimingina Velagapandu’ requests him to save the lives of the 40 passengers instead of giving priority to herself when they are caught in a storm. Though the man is like a small dot in the immense cosmos, he has a manassu (heart), which is as unfathomable as an ocean.

Hithasri points out that Autumn is a distinguished season as it is a beautiful one that infuses happiness and joy into every one (Nooru Saraththulu Bathakaali). Mullapudi Venkataramana (Kanuka) thinks that it is not possible to accommodate a cataract in a bamboo pipe. When the manassu of the man becomes a cataract there wouldn’t be bamboo pipes at all as every one of them would have become a flute.

R S Sudarshanam believes the existential dictum that that the man can procure the eternal only through the mutable, in the story, ‘Madhura Meenaakshi’. In the story ‘Prince Hemingway’, Allam Seshagiri Rao portrays a hunter, Prince Ravindra, who wants to imitate and emulate Hemingway’s Santiago(Old Man and the Sea) so that he can love everybody including his enemy. Santiago is a great hero who never accepts the defeat. Instead of getting troubled with the invincible worldly problems, he boldly commits suicide. In her memorable story ‘Penjeekati Kaavala’, R Vasundhara Devi describes a woman, who wants to know what is meant by death.

Waiting is an eternal phenomena according to Thripura.(Bhagavantham Kosam) The person for whom the narrator of the story has been waiting may be an idea also. He does not know how he looks like, how he comes and whether he comes or not. Meanwhile he meets many people and undergoes many experiences though indifferently. But Bhagavantham remains an ever eluding mystery.

None can take a bath twice in the same river and none can live twice at the same time, says Bandi Narayana Swamy(Chamki Danda). Death is a live force as normal and realistic as birth and the world is an eternal drama of birth and death, declares Mahendra in the story ‘Hoginekal’.

Sathyam Sankaramanchi’s ‘Oka Roju Vellipoyindi’, A V Reddy Sasthri’s ‘Phoenix’,Sri Subha’s ‘Oka Korika-Oka Theerpu’, Papineni Sivasankar’s ‘Ippudoo-Ikkadaa’, Jalandhara’s ‘Viyadganga’, K S Ramana’s ‘Malupulu’, Ramanajeevi’s ‘Ventadina Yenugu’, M S Suryanarayana’s ‘Lopalinadi’, Srivalli Radhika’s ‘Naa Snehithudu’, Madhuranthakam Narendra ’s ‘Asthithwaniki Atoo Itoo’, Ajayprasad’s ‘Loya’, Bhagavantham’s ‘Chittachivari Sunna’…it is a long list but not comprehensive. They are all modern Upanishads.

Life is always anew and eluding but the Telugu writer is not weary of finding new meanings and deriving afresh commentaries on it. They help the reader to have an awareness of the reality though in fragments . They reflect not only the limitations of literature but also its strengths.

By:Madhurantakam Narendra

- (The writer is a bilingual short story writer, novelist and poet, writing in both Telugu and English)