On a sunny early summer Sunday, a session in progress as part of the three-day International Telugu Writers’ conference provided a retreat from the heat outside.
People from diverse backgrounds and willing to let their creative juices flowing were part of the event which was about everything that life presents.
Touching upon a gamut of emotions like love, hate, man, and his many relationships, the speakers that had assembled at the venue from every corner of the globe, made the session entertaining, educational and enlightening.
Every component of human and spiritual life was talked about rising above caste, creed, gender or ethnicity. Basking in the literary shower, the spectators felt the need to do a lot of soul-searching by asking their inner selves all kinds of questions. They got into their feelings, a place where they normally don’t visit.
Bringing into play a professional and whimsical way with words, they spoke at length about the stories they have written, the characters they have created, the incidents they have devised with utmost sincerity and passion.
A visitor at the venue could almost immediately sense that literature is a textually transmitted disease and those present were all infected by it. The words flowing out of them were descriptive and powerful, and one could feel the emotion dripping from every word. The best part of the event was the fact that it proved beyond all doubts that literature works as a binding force, transcending barriers. The animosity reported between sections of people of the two bifurcated States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana seemed a popular myth.
Of the total 1,300 registered delegates, 600 were from Telangana region. “Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are offspring of the same mother — the Telugu language. They may have separated physically but the emotional chord is still intact and no force on earth can diminish it,” said Murty Jonnalagadda, an anaesthetist based in Southport near city of Liverpool in England. A native of Amalapuram in East Godavari district, he was here to participate in the event as he is also into Telugu poetry.
