Let Telangana Telugu shine bright : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Let Telangana Telugu shine bright

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Telangana Today (19-05-2017)

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has announced the First of its kind Telangana World Telugu Conference in October in Hyderabad. Steered by the newly formed Telangana Sahitya Academy, the Conference will be inaugurated on September 30 and held from October 22 to October 28. The meet is planned to be organized on a grandeur level to make it a landmark event in the annals of Telugu language, literature and culture.  

Telugu linguists, literates, scholars, poets, verse writers, language lovers from across the world are expected to join. The meet will include literary discussions, symposia, workshops, poetic gatherings (Kavi Sammelanam), traditional Ashthavadhanas,   as well as publication of valuable hitherto unpublished literary works of great writers from Telangana.

The Focus

The conference will focus on all that has been and is being done for the development of Telangana Telugu and literature. The government is already making efforts in this direction. It will extensively deliberate on the great contributions of writers, poets, literary luminaries, right from the ancient times to this day. It will also showcase the role played by Telangana literary figures in traditional literature, Avadhanam literature and modern literature.

A cross-section of literary personalities from Telangana and elsewhere would be recognized. Contributions to the field of films, journalism, and literature, Harikatha, Burrakatha and Yaksha Gana too will be recognized.

First Conference

The first-ever World Telugu Conference in united Andhra Pradesh was held in Hyderabad in 1975 when Jalagam Vengala Rao was the Chief Minister. It was held from the Ugadi day — April 12 – for seven days and the who’s who of the Telugu literary field to common Telugu-loving people participated.

A host of meetings, discussions, Kavi sammelanams and performances took place at Lal Bahadur Stadium, which was the main venue. The place was named as Kakatiya Nagar for the meet.

On the Nagarjuna Peetham platform meant for literary discussions, 1,500 personalities participated; covering 28 subjects and 100 scholarly papers were presented. Sri Krishnadevaraya Nagar was the platform for cultural programmes. Some 980 delegates from 16 countries and 4,500 from within the country attended.

Vengala Rao led a rally of thousands of people from Charminar to the LB Stadium on the inaugural day walking all the way for some five hours. The inaugural session began with the famous song, ‘Maa Telugu Talli ki’ sung by the original singer Tanguturi Surya Kumari. The writer of the song, Sankarambadi Sundaraachari, was also present.

Mahakavi Sri Sri, who held a protest march and organized a parallel Telugu Mahasabha, was arrested and later released. The literary duel between Kavi Samraat Vishwanath Satyanarayana and Sri Sri reached its crescendo during the conference. A letter opposing the conference purportedly written by Vishwanath Satyanarayana was sent to the media, which alleged that Sri Sri had forged his signature, due to which Sri Sri had to spend a night in Bolarum police station.

Other Conferences

The second World Telugu conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from April 14 to 18, 1981, when T Anjaiah was the Chief Minister. The AP government, World Telugu Federation and Malaysia Telugu Association organized it.

The Chief Minister himself participated and then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohammad was the chief guest. President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy sent a special message expressing the hope that the relationship, love and affection among the Telugus living the world over would continue. The participants included delegates from Mauritius, Fiji, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

The third conference was held from December 10 to 13, 1990, at Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Mauritius, in which Mauritius Governor Veerasami Ringuda and Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth were the chief guests.

The fourth conference, held from December 27 to 29, 2012 at Tirupati, during the Chief Ministership of N Kiran Kumar Reddy, was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee. Photographs of 108 prominent Telugu personalities were displayed.

Making it a Success

If the proposed first World Telugu conference in Telangana is to be successful, it should be organized on a much grander scale than the previous events. There is a marked difference between the aims and objectives of the World Telugu conferences held in the united AP and now, and this changed focus needs to be well-reflected in the upcoming conference.

The Telangana thought needs to prevail and it will be better if the organizers coordinate with various cultural organizations in the State, institutions, and people from other States as well as from abroad and also involve the media. Political parties too need to be brought on board.

District level committee meetings must take place well in advance before organizing them at the regional and State levels. The conference should also have an appropriate and beautiful logo.

As suggested by the Chief Minister, books, monographs, articles should be published on Telangana’s contribution to Telugu language and literature. It will be appropriate if the groundbreaking ceremony of the cultural forum, Kala Bharati, is held as part of the conference.

A proper publicity campaign should be carried out in other States and abroad to get more delegates and participants. The proposed conference should have the right mix of Telangana culture, literature, language and traditions and should be a memorable event.

(The author is Chief Public Relations Officer to the Chief Minister of Telangana)