Multifaceted and nuanced articulation of indigenous culture in the form of traditional means of entertainment such as bull dance and folk music is still invested with tremendous power of firmly anchoring people in space they live in both literally and figuratively.
They provide rare moments of empathy to the beleaguered individual that is a soothing alternative to mass media that dominate modern life. Further, the scourge of mono-culturalism, the hallmark of post-modernism, can only be thwarted if the redemptive power of flora and fauna is made the object of the attention.
This is what portrayed in a selection of contemporary Telugu stories with remarkable creative prowess that appeared recently. Noted Telugu scholar and translator R. Shanta Sundri translated 23 tautly-crafted Telugu short stories. Titled “Jharoka” (Glimpse), the stories seem a perfect antidote to the contemporary narrative of aggrandisement, promiscuity and subsequent disappointment and dislocation.
Chaupandi Sudharkar’s story “Legacy” (virasat) creatively revisits what it means to be successful in monetary terms. The narrator is a peripatetic folk artist whose entire existence revolves around preserving a forgotten art of bull dance, which used to provide collective happiness when there was no trace of mindless adulation for TV. He quite willingly parts with his wife and all worldly belongings and for him art is always real, tangible and a tactile cultural document of the recent past.
G. Gagishwar Reddy’s story “Ghosts of Anamika watch company” (Anamika watch company Ke Bhoot) triggers a flurry of rapture, reflexive disgust, and disappointment set in motion by all pervasive globalisation.
The story goes beyond narrating heart wrenching impact of the closure of the factories and lays bare the myth of development and prosperity that scaffolds the social spaces of contemporary life. Workers, wary of losing jobs, no longer want to wage battle for their legitimate rights and their knowing silence leaves the narrator completely bewildered.
R. Seeta Ramiah’s story creatively affirms that marriage cannot be the final arbiter of love, it is what that fills the emotional vacuity for some time. Emollient dialogues of the narrator make it clear that marriage often means forced dislocation for women of all classes.
The story “Mother’s heart” uncovers a poignant tale of jealously, selfishness and repressed passion. Greed is a perverse and uncontrollable trait that puts two sisters in a psychological space – where they are pitted against each other and resentments runs deep and long.
The author Dr. J. Bhagya Lakshmi depicts the moral, physical and physiological tragedy quite captivatingly.
Dr. Awasarla Ram Krishna Rao produces a well-crafted laconic story that shows us the unbreakable cruelties of the destiny but bad luck does not pave the way for dark humour.
Mohammad Qadeer Baba’s narrative handles a delicate subject – myriad emotional complexes – with remarkable felicity as the author seamlessly blends the personal with the professional and objectifies human predicament. The whole existence of the protagonist – a female – is mellowed down by a deep rooted sense of loss. Throughout the story, there is an eye for details and the author fashions a narrative of the attainment and insecurities with a powerful ethical and dramatic intensity. The protagonist strives for integrating and reclaiming her identity in a world that epitomises a ruthless intricate structure of social regulations.
The compiler selected the artistically crafted stories of Tadgi Giri’ Pota Raju, T. Jagan Mohan L.Rao, A. Chandarya, K Verlakshmi, V.V.N. Murti, C. Sudhakar, G. Gauran Naidu, K. Satayavati,G.J.Reddy, T. Sampat Kumar, Dada Hayat, Vindoni, G.Narian Rao, G.R.Maharishi, B. Ajay Parsad, G. Pasha and Chitra, Pasupolit Geeta.
Almost all stories, firmly grounded in the cultural ethos of Andhra and Telangana, turn attention to the plight of the marginalised sections of the society though no attempt is made to romanticise poverty and need.
The authors do zero in on the paucity of resources, drought, rain shortfall, load shedding and some other natural calamities and many of them bring an artistic touch to their handling of somewhat routine material. The narrative of globalisation, alienation and loneliness can only be arrested if people revisit their cultural moorings.
