E m pilloi yeldamosthava , a stirring song inviting young minds to a progressive fold, Randiro Coolanna Randiro Raitanna, Sangham Pedadamu Sangatemo Chooddamu , a composition with a clarion call for coolies and peasants to form a union for their betterment, Yentramettla nadusthuvundante , Ambathakkade ajamannare , Yennelo Yennela and many more songs of well-known revolutionary balladeer Vangapandu Pasadarao rent the air in the spacious Andhra University Assembly Hall in Visakhapatnam. The occasion was the celebration of Vangapandu Paataku 50 Yellu (50 years to Vangapandu’s Song), where Vangapandu along with his wife Vijayalakshmi was warmly felicitated recently. The event was a huge draw and the venue and its surroundings reverberated to his progressive songs.
With a festive air and visible exuberance, the packed auditorium stood in thrall for hours as Vangapandu and his team sang. The spirited and full-throated singing augmented the intensity of excitement animating the audience into joining the chorus in roaring applause. Vangapandu in his signature attire came on to the stage to the frenzied beats of dappu and dholak and right away began singing ‘ Naa peru Vangapandu, naavuru Bondapalli, naa tandir janam dandu, naa paata mogalichendu ’ that set the tone for a vibrant event, the chorus yodelling the refrain of his songs. All these imbued the ambience with emotive dynamics of its own.
Born in Peda Bondapalli in Viziangaram district, Vangapandu began penning lyrics quite early. The pathetic and abject penury of the people around and their hardship deeply moved him and his emotive response to this broke into a rousing songs.
Each of these songs in its fiery expression poignantly carries the travails and untold misery of the exploited, revealing the dark shades of society. Clarity of thought, brevity of expression and directness of appeal are the hallmark of his songs; couched in lilting folk tunes and rousing emotive shades, they have an enduring effect.
A lyricist non-pareil, an inimitable singer and a playwright with ideological conviction and poetic strength in his fight for the oppressed, Vangapandu’s life is a mission and message in itself.
Apart from his troupe, a good number artistes from Praja Natya Mandali (which he co-founded with Gaddar and B. Narsing Rao) from across the State took part in the event. Writers Academy hosted the event.
