Dr. C. Narayana Reddy - A Poet with a Human Heart
R. Purushothama Rao (India, 30/07/06)
Dr. C. Narayana Reddy is the recipient of many awards of literary fame and excellence including Jnana Peeth award [highest award for literature in India], Soviet land award [a category], central sahitya academy award. He is a luminary in high echelons of Telugu language and literature.
Kumar as an award [Kerala] Raja lakshmi award [Chennai] Bharatiya bhasha parishad [Kolkata]. In addition to these meritorious awards, he received honorary doctorates from Meerut University, Andhra, Kakateeya and Acharya nagarjuna universities [Andhra Pradesh].
He is a Padmasri and Padmabhushan duly awarded by Government of India. More than 75 published works to his credit, [majority are volumes of his poetry]
He is habituated to the custom of releasing a volume of poetry every year on his birth day on July 29th with all the poems published in various magazines during that year.
As an academician par excellence he worked as vice chancellor of B R Ambedkar University and Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University-Hyderabad
He was a nominated member of Rajya Sabha for one term and a famous orator. He now resides in film nagar jubilee hills in Hyderabad. He is awarding an annual prize under “suseela narayana reddy" award for women writers. Known for his scholarship, he is regarded as a luminary in Telugu language and literature always striving for human values.
Let us now read into his works where human excellence is well appreciated in all contexts. Some of the titles of volumes of his poetry reveal his togetherness with the ideal.
Manishi chilaka [Human & Parrot]
Mantalu-mAnavudu [Fire flames & The Human]
Matti Manishi AkAsam [man earth and sky]
BhugOlamantha manishi bomma—[The Human portrait-globe sized]
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His long poem or say modern epic "viswambhara" which earned him the highest literary award in India "jnana peeth award” speaks of man and his highest seat in the heart of the universe.
Some of the titles of his poems too read about the greatness of a human being and also narrates his unparalleled vision towards the contemporary society and fellow humans.
Humanism that is struggling in the cages of sermons
Unfolds its wings and descend onto
The threshold of every house
The new age flag raised by the creation-
Man’s portrait
Stands as tall as globe
[Human Portrait- Globe Sized-------moving spirit]
man is brooding now
his proximity to the diabolic
he computes ad assesses;
he resolves to compose
the melody of tomorrow
but settles instead for
the stereotype of yester day
[helpless man---moving spirit]
be jealous. move like a wind
like the unfailing wings of golden eagle
rise in valour like a heavenly river
even if the supreme lord obstructs
this is not a static garden
this is a seat of settled humanism
the lesson of dynamism we have learnt
it is a fitting lesson to all ages
[conscious cry of a progress pioneer—moving spirit]
The poet stresses the need to emulate the quality of unity of the birds by humans in all the tasks
All the birds sitting together for some time
share their despair and delight unhindered
Such communion of the birds
should be a lesson to all average humans on earth
[Communion----- a poem published in a weekly 01-03-06]
The human being according to the poet should feel like a bird in the act of flying to high skies
with free, frank and fearless body, mind and soul.
The human should always smell like the fragrance of a blooming flower.
Violence for the matter of fact will not at all bring in rich dividends.
It will only tarnish the image so far earned by the state/country/ world
The multi treacherous acts
committed with much fan fare in the street’s midst
will tumble down on one day or the other
and bow down to the awakened public force
[Phala Sriti - fruitful memory—
-a poem published in a weekly]
at last let me conclude this essay with some lines in a poem
exactly answering a query by a friend about his continuity in poetry
unless it find place in my poetry
the contemporary society will not get a sleep at all
any incident eagerly waits at my door step
for an eventual chance to a quite place in my poetry columns
the newly complied volume of my poems
expresses its impatience at the calendar pages
for not quickly marching ahead to my birth day date
[creative journey---a poem published in a monthly magazine during April 2006]
He is today celebrating his 75th birthday and let us all wish him many more valuable and priceless returns of the day---29-07-06]
SUBHAM BHUUYATH
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