Hasyavadhanam: a barrel of laughs

Ravindra Bharathi Meeting Hall saw people standing outside the hall and doorways to attend the event

(Clockwise) A major street lit up colourfully for World Telugu Conference in the city on Saturday. With traffic curbs in place for the conference, the Tank Bund road sees heavy traffic flow. Girl students taking a selfie with Bathukamma outside L.B. Stadium.

The enthusiasm that was kicked in by the grand inaugural of the World Telugu Conference at Lal Bahadur Stadium on Friday found its echo in all the other venues on Saturday where a variety of literary programmes have been lined up till December 19.

The response from the delegates was overwhelming, and as per the their taste and preference, they headed to Telugu University, Ravindra Bharathi and Telangana Saraswatha Parishad to participate in the literary events from 10 a.m. onwards.

But

Avadhanam , a literary performance that showcases a superior mastery of cognitive capabilities and multitasking as it involves one person responding to the queries raised by eight to 100 persons even as one person distracts the Avadhani with light-hearted banter, proved to be a major draw with the delegates as well as the general public. It’s an ancient tradition popularised by Telugu poets and writers.

The Ravindra Bharathi Meeting Hall allotted for

Astavadhanam by Maluga Anjaiah and later Hasyavadhanam by Shankara Narayana was bursting at the seams with people, exceeding the expectations of the organisers.

People did not mind standing outside the hall and doorways so long as they could hear the Hasyavadhanam as Avadhani Shankara Narayana kept the audience in splits with his non-stop humour, parody and anecdotes quoting eminent poets Sri Sri, C. Narayana Reddy, Mullapudi Venkata Ramana et al. Sample this one: Once three poets went to then Chief Minister Kasu Brahmananda Reddy and sought funds to construct a building for the poets. When Mr. Reddy asked their names, they said Sunnam Veerraju, Thapi Dharma Rao and Rallabandi Satyanarayana Raju. Punning on their names, Mr. Reddy said, “‘Sunnam’ (limestone), ‘Taapi’ (mason) and ‘Rallabandi’(stones) are ready and why do you need my help?” Then pat came the reply from the poets, “Even if all the three are there, one needs ‘Kasu’(money).” It’s a pun on the surname of Mr. Brahmananda Reddy, who laughed and gave them more money than they requested for. Later, poet Sri Sri said in a lighter vein, “Kase Brahmanandam (Brahmanandam Reddy), Dose Paramanandam (Sri Sri is known to enjoy his drink), recounted Avadhani Narayana as the audience burst into peals of laughter.

Every Telugu person has a sense of humour so much so that Telugus laugh heartily at others’ discomfort. This was the repartee from him when the audience burst into laughter when he narrated a situation wherein his wife deftly made him the butt of his own joke.

Many delegates felt that a bigger hall should have been allotted for Hasyavadhanam as several people had to go back for want of space.