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Dr Asavadi Prakasa Rao |
Poems
in translation from Telugu1
Telugu
original by: Dr Asavadi Prakasa Rao | Trans. by: Atreya Sarma U
Only
then will you enjoy the real thrill!2
If
you resign yourself to your identity of a weak community,
And
continue to drag yourself in the yards of others,
What
then is the value of your life? What’s its purpose?
Caste
and sectarian unions are no solution
For
they reek of selfishness and trigger factional feuds.
Why
do you forget that you own a brain in your head
And are strong in your loins?
If
you continue to submit to the threats of some,
And
bloat when some extol you to the skies,
And
if you thereby sacrifice the sweat of your brow,
And
keep on doing their bidding willy-nilly,
You
will forever go on rotting like a slave.
When
at all can you then dance in pristine ecstasy
With
your own steps, gestures, lyrics and music?
You’ll
derive the real thrill only when
You
put a clear-cut stop to your thraldom.
***
Live
and breathe...3
You,
naughty urchins!
You
brats that boastfully waste away your time!
Will
you heed my words, and come forth
To
walk along with me on a path that I show?
If
you just raise your blabbering voices,
What’s
it that tells you from the beasts?
If
you fool away your time all the time,
How
are you any different from a crow?
Don’t
jump up on impulse, but learn
How to use and sharpen your mind.
Keep
in mind the value of life between birth and death;
Do
your bit to promote fellow-feeling more and more;
Fill
the good deeds with your sense of responsibility;
Help
the neighbours and the needy;
Define,
explain and demonstrate what life is;
And
light up the eyes of everyone around.
***
No,
don’t sleep away all your time4
No
more this slothful sopor, my dearie!
Wake
up like a good boy at least now, my sonny!
Look
up at the rising sun who shares out his golden rays;
And
listen to the thrilling trills the kokila5 makes.
All
around you can sight wonderful scenes
That
fetch you oodles and oodles of treasures.
As
you endearingly gambol about playing and frolicking,
As
you sit down in a corner focusing on your studies,
My
heart jumps with joy, and it craves for
Nothing
but your chortles and charming looks.
Kumbhakarna6
who had lost himself in six months of slumber
Finally
had to collapse along with his elder brother Ravana7.
Lakshmana8
– so alert round the clock for years fourteen,
And
so loving and faithful to his brother Rama9 – sparkled like a
star.
Notes:
1. Source of the Telugu poems: antaranga tarangaalu (Waves of Soul), a collection of Telugu free verse poems. Dr Asavadi Prakasa Rao. Published by Navya Sahithi Samithi, Proddatur (Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh). Originally published in 1988. Revised Edition 2005.
2.
Telugu title: daasyam vaddu (No slavery).
3.
Telugu title: manugaDakartham (Purpose of life).
4.
Telugu title: niddura vaddura kannaa (Don’t oversleep, sonny).
5.
Kokila: Kokila or Koel is a song bird. Also called Asian Koel, Eudynamys
scolopaceus.
6. Kumbhakarna: Character from the Ramayana epic;
younger brother of the demon king Ravana. Notorious for his non-stop somnolence
for full six months every year.
7. Ravana: Demon king of Sri Lanka in the Ramayana
epic. He abducted Sita, wife of Rama, and finally met his doom.
8. Lakshmana: Younger brother of Rama who accompanies
the latter in his exile. A character from the epic of Ramayana.
9.
Rama: Protagonist in the Ramayana epic.
***
Dr Asavadi Prakasa Rao
Dr Asavadi Prakasa Rao is a Padma Shri awardee
(2021) in the field of Literature & Education. An accomplished Telugu
writer and academic, he has a literary
output comprising 60 books across various genres – Poetry, Extempore Poetry,
Collection of Literary Essays, Translations, Monographs, Collection of Reviews
covering 126 books, Biographies, Emendations, Commentaries, Anthologies,
Collection of Forewords, Miscellaneous. Settled down in Penukonda, Anantapuram district of Andhra Pradesh,
he is a recipient of a number of prestigious awards, titles and felicitations. Born
in a scheduled caste – Madiga, he is an ardent believer in and practitioner of
social harmony and Indian cultural values. As an Ashta-Avadhani (the only one
in this art in the SC communities in the entire country), he performed this
unique & amazing literary feat over 170 times. He retired as the Principal of a government degree college.
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