On a pleasant Sunday evening the 24 Vijayawada Book Festival was teeming with book-lovers browsing through the books stocked in their favourite stalls, but what came as a surprise was a large gathering at the main dais where Odiya and Telugu poets and writers read out their works.
The interaction that was kick-started by Central Sahitya Academy in-charge Secretary K. Srinivasa Rao introducing the invited writers and poets drew people’s attention and none wanted to miss the recitation of poems by Addepalli Rammohana Rao in Telugu and then an English translation for the benefit of Odiya audience.
He began with Ippudu Ika Maro Buddhudu Puttadu poem dwelling on the present-day societal conditions and concluded by saying `Maranam Jeevithanni Nadipichukupothondi’ (Death is leading the life). The other poem was a tribute to the now dead Snail Mail (Postal Letters) naming the poem Nako Uttaram Kavali and translated it into Telugu also.
A language professor in BJB College, Manorama Biswal Mahapatra, with 20 books to her credit and several awards lucidly described the division of joint families and division of mother’s love for its children reflecting on the nuclear families and its consequences. The poem titled `Maa Ku Bhago Kora gola’ (When mother was divided/partitioned).
In her poetic way she describes the division of mother’s love for both of her children. She tried to symbolically tell the audience that the fight between two brothers leads to a situation, where mother turns into a lifeless idol as her love and affection cannot be divided. Showing her strong liking for the topic – Mother, she recited another poem in English on Mother’s Shadow and how we show scant respect for her.
A local short-story writer, poet and a regular on All India Radio Vimala Kumari brought out the cultural difference between two sisters, who were separated at birth through adoption and were brought up by two families – one in India and the other in the United States. While the younger girl living with her own parents in India get encouraged by her parents and runs after the elusive Western lifestyle, the elder sister brought up by her relatives in the US sticks to the Telugu traditions and Indian culture and showcases her talent.
Veteran journalist Turlapati Kutumba Rao presided over the meeting, while other writers Pushpanjali Naik, B. Venkateswarlu and Sunil Kumar Prushti also recited their verses and read shot stories.
