Noted Cine writer and actor, Gollapudi Maruthi Rao, known for his tongue-in-cheek remarks and ready wit, added a philosophical touch to the ‘Sahiti Vasanthotsavam,' held to herald the beginning of Telugu New Year, Khara nama Ugadi.
“God is central to human civilization and one cannot place him in the narrow confines of religion,'' Mr. Maruthi Rao said questioning the theological dogmas narrowed down by primordial beliefs.
He said that Dharma was all pervasive and tradition and culture has evolved over the years. The uniqueness of India is that it has been an evolving civilization, he pointed out.
The annual event held by Sahiti Samakhya at GMCANA auditorium evoked a huge response from the public. Be it crisp one-liners, or spontaneous lyrics or delightful verse, the linguistic luminaries delighted the audience.
Former chairman of Andhra Pardesh Cultural Council Dharmavarapu Subramaniyam regaled the audience with a satire on news channels.
Continuing a tradition for nearly a decade, Sahiti Samakhya presented Sahitya Puraskrams to Tanikella Bharani, PSR Anjaneya Prasad, B.VN Murthy (Bnim).
Samakhya secretary Lakshminarayana said that it should be the endeavour of every Telugu person to make efforts to preserve the rich language and said that people should take pride in their rich cultural diversity.
Rs 136-crore aid
Minister for Education K. Parthasarathy has expressed the hope that the ‘Srikhara nama samvatsaram' will usher in prosperity, good harvest and all-round progress to put the State and Krishna district on the path of development. He promised Rs.136-crore financial assistance to farmers who incurred crop loss due to rains in December last.
Addressing a gathering at the Ugadi celebrations at the IV Palace here on Monday, Mr. Parthasarathy called upon people to be part of the government efforts to achieve progress on all fronts in the district.
The Minister listed the efforts being made for improving the lot of farmers and said that support of all kinds would be extended to the agriculture sector as the government was committed to farmers' welfare. Keeping in view the problems being faced by farmers, the government ensured that they got loans of Rs. 50 crore.
Rythu Mitra groups
About 35,000 Rythu Mitra groups were formed in the district so far, Mr. Parthasarathy said and added that steps would be taken to see that small and marginal farmers would get every possible benefit.
Commissioner of Police Amit Garg, Municipal Commissioner G. Ravibabu, Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu, City Congress Committee president Pyla Somi Naidu, MLC Ilapuram Venkaiah, former mayors M.V. Ratna Bindu and Mallika Begum were among those who attended the programme. The programme began two hours behind schedule due to the late arrival of VIPs.
Mr. Parthasarathy felicitated 15 artistes. They included Ghazal Srinivas, J.S. Chakravarthy, Sasisri, Gurram Subrahmanyam, K.S.P. Sai, Gangotri Sai and several vedic scholars.
