Writers and poets who turned up for the birth anniversary celebrations of the renowned Telugu poet Devulapalli Krishna Sastry in this tiny village on Tuesday have literally protected the ancient house of the poet from being bulldozed by the government for the reconstruction of school building. Instead of dismantling the 125 year-old house, the government has now decided to retain the structure by making necessary repairs to it and protecting the premises from encroachers.
Born and brought up in this verdant village located in Samalkot mandal, Krishna Sastry (1897-1980) is considered to be the forerunner of romanticism in Telugu poetry and was often referred to be as ‘Andhra Shelly’ by his fellow poets. He had brought out numerous compilations of poetry and won many awards including the coveted ‘Padmabhushan’ during his lifetime. After entering into the tinsel world as lyricist with the epic ‘Malliswari’ way back in 1950, he had donated his house to the village and asked the villagers to run a school in it. Subsequently, the old-fashioned house turned into a primary school. Marking his birth anniversary in 1997, the villagers proposed to install the statue of the poet on the school premises and rechristened the institution in his name.
The newly-formed Sri Devulapalli Krishna Sastry Charitable Trust has arranged the 120th birth anniversary celebrations of the poet on a grand scale and invited Home Minister N. Chinarajappa, Kakinada MP Tota Narasimham and a good number of officials, writers and poets. Mr. Rajappa, who presided over the meeting, showered a slew of sops on the villagers including laying of road to Chitrada by spending ₹1.43 crore, constructing a community hall by spending ₹20 lakh, setting up a library with an outlay of ₹15 lakh and naming all the three projects after the great poet. He, however, also announced the dismantling of the age-old school building and replacing it with a modern structure.
Writer and literary critic Vadrevu Veeralakshmi Devi said that the house of Nobel recipient Rabindranath Tagore was remained untouched in Kolkata and it was a landmark in the city. “We wish Chandrampalem too becoming a landmark, so that literary lovers from across the globe could visit this village without any hassles,” she said.
Poet K. Ramachandra Reddy took objection to the proposed dismantling and urged the Home Minister to retain the structure in memory of the legendary poet. These appeals made Mr. Rajappa to rethink on his decision and made the fresh announcement. Honorary president of the trust P. Chiranjeevini Kumari, president Gadam Papa Rao and others welcomed the decision.
