‘Oye Telugu vaada’ sung by Ghazal Srinivas passionately with a desire to see that Andhra Pradesh, the first linguistic State in the country, remain united forever caught the imagination of all Samkyandhra protagonists.
“It took more than one-and-a-half years for me to reconcile with the division of the State which has killed my spirit,” Mr Srinivas recalls in a conversation with The Hindu while making a mention of the turn of events that saw the State carved out of composite Madras State in the wake of supreme life sacrifice made by Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu, bifurcated again.
“Putting the unhappy past behind, I will now contribute my best through my songs to see progress in both Telugu-speaking States,” asserts the singer, who has popularised the Ghazals penned by Jnanapith awardee C. Narayana Reddy from Telangana, by performing over 7,000 concerts.
“I will continue to work for uplift of fluoride-affected people in Nalgonda and breathe life into folksongs from that region,” adds Mr. Srinivas
The pioneer of Telugu Ghazal, who had etched his name in the Guinness book of World Records by singing “Golden Dreams of Gandhi” in 125 global languages, was here in connection the three-day Telugu conference that concluded on Sunday.
“Now I am on a mission to turn the Pallepadu Gandhi Ashram in Nellore district as a prime Gandhian Research centre, rivalling the one in Sabarmathi in serenity to give an impetus to the Gandhian movement,” adds Mr Srinivas who kept spell-bound singing Ghazal on a variety of themes playing Kanjeera with élan.
His peace mission had taken him to Afghanistan to perform concerts in Dari, Pashtho and Urdu languages and to Pathankot last month to honour Punjabi-Urdu Poet Rajendra Nath Rehbar with Dr. C Narayana Reddy Sahithi Puraskaram-2015.
Now I am working on a ‘Salam Bugo’ album to highlight the Indo-Afghan friendship, he reveals.
Passionate to perform in Urdu and Hindi as well, Mr. Srinivas is keen to see his 14-year-old daughter Samskruthi, who has been trained in carnatic music and Kuchipudi dance form, to mature into a great cultural ambassador.
I will continue to work for uplift of fluoride-affected people in Nalgonda and breathe life into folksongs from that region
Ghazal Srinivas
Singer
