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The Moghul of Telugu Poetry

Article · July 2017

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Pulugurta Chandrasekhar
Jagdishprasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala University
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 A Journal of the press Institute of India ISSN 0042-5303

July-September 2017
Volume 9 Issue 3 Rs 50

Trust diminishes as an editor is

knocked off his pedestal
The Economic and Political Weekly is one of India’s most
respected academic and journalistic publications. It now finds itself
embroiled in one of India’s most unseemly media controversies.
CONTENTS
• An editor’s exit reflects
Ranjona Banerji provides the background and brings us up to perils of investigative
speed on the latest developments journalism / Bharat Dogra

B
• Needed: Sentiments of
orn from the Economic Weekly started by Sachin Chaudhuri in 1949, the daring and social vigilance /
Economic and Political Weekly emerged when Chaudhuri closed down the Sakuntala Narasimhan
Economic Weekly in 1966. Friends and well-wishers got together to form the • Can ‘peace-mongering’
Sameeksha Trust, so that the journal could run freely and without interference. ever be news? / Sakuntala
Narasimhan
Sadly, the last two editors have left because of problems of interference from
the Trust. First C. Rammanohar Reddy quit after 10 years with EPW. Admirers • Keeping options open in
a changed global order /
thought the ship would steady when Paranjoy Guha Thakurta was appointed Shastri Ramachandaran
last year. Instead, his resignation has really shaken not just the EPW community
• Time higher education is
but the larger world of the media and academia. given the focus it deserves /
Guha Thakurta is a formidable business and investigative journalist. His Mario Noronha
work has targeted some of India’s biggest industrial and business houses from • Getting the better of online
Sahara to the Ambanis. In 2010, he co-authored a report with L. Sreenivas Reddy, harassment isn’t easy /
commissioned by the Press Council of India, on the paid news menace which Pushpa Achanta
was destroying the credibility of the media. (That the report was buried by the • Land contouring proves a
PCI is another matter.) boon for marginal farmers /
Guha Thakurta was apparently hired by the Sameeksha Trust because of his Rina Mukherji
reputation as an investigative journalist. What sense did it then make to attempt • Are journalists relatively
to humiliate him because he added investigative articles to EPW? To go back safe in the Northeast? /
in time, Guha Thakurta worked with a group of journalists to investigate a tax Nava Thakuria
rebate which an Adani Group company received, apparently for a tax it did not • Visionary editor, father of
pay in the first place. Anyone who follows the news in India knows that the Indian Renaissance / Mrinal
Adani Group is perceived to be close to the current NDA Government at the Chatterjee
Centre. • Interview with Aparna Sen /
The Group sent a legal letter to EPW. So far, so normal. Any journalist who has Shoma A. Chatterji
written anything remotely controversial will have received legal notices. In most • Swinging Sixties, echoing
cases, the management appoints a lawyer or the company’s legal department the scent of youthful
exuberance / Partab
asks questions of the journalist and editor and a reply is drafted or further action Ramchand
is taken.
• Remembering Roger Moore,
Guha Thakurta’s 'mistake' is that he hired a lawyer without consulting the C.N. Reddy, Vinod Khanna,
publishers, in this case the Sameeksha Trust. He also put up the legal letter and Reema Lagoo
(Continued on page 3)

July-September 2017 VIDURA 1

 REMEMBERING C.N. REDDY (1931-2017)
The Moghul of Telugu poetry
Cingireddy Narayana Reddy, popularly known as CiNaRe, who passed away in June this year, was a remarkable
Telugu writer, critic, poet, actor and lyricist, as well as an educationist and an expert on Telugu literature.
Pulugurta Chandra Sekhar pays a tribute
Nadaka naa thalli
Parugu naa thandri
Samatha naa bhaasha
Kavitha naa swaasa
(Movement is my mother
Marching is my father
Equality is my language
And poetry is my breath)
B
orn on 29th July in 1931,
Cingireddy Narayana Reddy
began writing poetry at
the age of 13. The medium of his
education was Urdu, yet he wrote
mostly in Telugu. His compositions
carry the unmistakable influence
of Urdu poetry. His first published
work was a slim volume of poems
titled Navvan Puvvu (The Bashful
Flower), in 1953. CiNaRe, as he
was better known, had more
than 80 published works to his
credit, including long poems, free
verse, plays (both in verse and
prose), essays, literary criticism,
translations and ghazals.
Humanity and nature were
subjects CiNaRe focused on in his
poetry. In his Sahitya Akademi
Award-winning Mantalu-Mana-
vudu (Flames and Man) the
Photo: PC
Cingireddy Narayana Reddy.
July-September 2017 VIDURA
View publication stats
mythological figures, Maruthi and
Markandeya, epitomise man’s
capacity to overcome negative
influences and experiences, and
progress to a happy state, powered
by optimism and self-assurance.
Visvambhara (The Earth), his
magnum opus, won him the
prestigious Jnanpeeth Award. In it,
the earth provides the platform and
backdrop for the story of mankind.
The long poem includes thumbnails
of the lives and philosophies of
Christ, Ashoka, Socrates, Buddha,
Lincoln, Lenin, Marx, Gandhi and
others (who are not identified by
name).
CiNaRe was introduced to the
Telugu film industry by N.T. Rama
Rao (NTR). His first composition
was for the film, Gulebakavali Katha,
in 1962. He went on to contribute
more than 3500 lyrics to the field
of cinema. Jaya jayahey bhaaratavani,
Paavani sadguna gana samupeta, a
patriotic outpouring for the film
Manasainodu, was the last lyric he
penned for the silver screen.
CiNaRe started his working life
as a lecturer at Nizam College
in Hyderabad. Later, he joined
Osmania University as a professor.
He contributed significantly to the
development of Telugu University,
Hyderabad, and went on to
become the vice-chancellor. He
conducted the proceedings of the
first convocation of the University
in Telugu and made history.
CiNaRe was a trail-blazer in orga-
nising the annual celebrations of
the Telangana Writers Conference.
Under his stewardship, the third
all-India Telugu Mahasabha was
held in Bengaluru and the third
World Telugu Mahasabha in
Mauritius. He was a Member of
the Rajya Sabha from 1997 to 2003,
the first poet from South India to
be nominated to the Upper House
of Parliament. He was a recipient
of the Padma Shri and the Padma
Bhushan.
CiNaRe also wrote poetry in
Hindi and Urdu and his works
have been translated into English,
French, Sanskrit, Hindi, Malayalam,
Urdu and Kannada. His death is an
irreparable loss to Telugu culture.<
(The writer works for the News
Services Division of All India Radio,
New Delhi. He is a research scholar at
Shri Jagdisprasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala
University, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.)
Print media in India grew
61 pc in 10 years: ABC
Bucking the worldwide trend, the
print media in India has grown by
61 per cent in the last 10 years,
figures released by the Audit
Bureau of Circulations (ABC) show.
Average sale of copies per day
increased from 3.91 crore in 2006
to 6.28 crore in 2016.
ABC, which certifies the circulation
figures of publications every six
months, reported that the print
industry in India has been growing
at an “incredible” CAGR of 4.87 per
cent over the 10-year period, with
251 publishing centres added to
the 659 back in 2006. Growth has
been strongest in north India, where
print grew by 7.83 per cent CAGR
during the period, followed by the
south with 4.95 per cent. Much of
the growth of the industry is due to
the robust growth of regional titles,
with Hindi publications topping the
list. <
(Courtesy: The New Indian Express)
59