A Peep into Wisdom (An Anthology of Quintuplets)

Govindaraju Ramakrishna Rao, is a former Director, Department of Translations, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. He is a gifted creative writer in Telugu and he has 3 Collections of short stories, 3 collections of children stories and 2 children novels besides several essays and Hundreds of book reviews to his credit. His Telugu translations included Media (Greek Play) Mind Matters of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Guruji, Humanism! Whither Your Migration? and other books apart from over forty stories from different Indian languages and he has translated a number of poems, short stories etc. into English. Rao is a resident of Hyderabad.

That the foundations of Indian culture were deeply embedded in Dravidian culture is now an incontrovertibie fact. Dravidian culture is one of the most ancient cultures of the world. Those cultures, slightly contemporanceous to one another, slowly started fading out. However, the primordial Drvidian culture continues to thrive without losing its quintessence despite the apparent changes in systems cf dress and address.

Dravidian University was established in 1997 to mirror the real and rich picture of Dravidian culture not only in its linguistic, literary. cultural and Philosophical facets but in science and technological angles also.

The main objectives of Dravidian University are to augment the common weal and social well being of the communities of marginal languages and to build bridges among the Southern states. While working on each language separately in varied areas, it aims at a synthesis and a descovery of the common heritage through Comparative Studies.

Prasaaraanga(publications wing) and Anusrijana (Translation Bureau) are the two most significant wings of the University from out of its several on going progressive activities.

Dr. C. Narayana Reddy, the poet-critic, the recipient of many literary awards including the Gnanapith, won national acclaim for his literary output during the last five decades. Characterised by imaginative interpretation of man, society and the universe, his poetry reached great heights by sheer novelty of themes and experiments in poetic styles. Distancing himself from extremes of right and left, Arasam and Virasam, he has chosen the middle path of moderation, which may be described progressives socialism. Prapanchapadulu, written in five line stanzas, have more than 100 like the Sataka literature. This collection comprises musings of the author on life, a distillation of his experiences. The mood is philosophical, reflective, satirical and ironical. The themes are universal and specific, which serve as an ethical guide to human living.

The English translation is marked by clarity, simplicity and beauty which are the hallmarks of a good translation a golden ornament is turned into another golden ornament. Sri Govindaraju Ramakrishna Rao deserves to be complimented for attempting to introduce Dr. C. Narayana Reddy to a wider readership.

I enjoyed reading it and I hope the readers will benefit from its wisdom. The university will pride itself'in publishing it.

Dr. C. Narayana Reddy a recipient of the most prestigious literary award of India-Bharatiya Jnanpith Puraskar — is an outstanding Telugu litterateur in terms of both quality and quantity. Reckoning from his inceptive publication ‘ Navvani Puvvu’ (1953), he has so far (2010) authored eighty works of remarkable standard in different genres, covering prosodic verses, long narrative poems in metrical form, lyrical plays. Collections of free verse, literary criticism, Gazals, aphorism, epigrams, translations, and so on. Poetry is Dr. Reddy's forte, and he asserts: " Poetry is the highest form of creative work. It is universal and all pervading, surpassing limitations of time, space, region, religion and the like. Poetry brings into its fold all other creative faculties". His "Pra" panchapadulu" is a compilation of 108 quintuplets. The poet himself elucidates the quintessence of this unique poetical creation: "These quintuplets are stimuli for a deflected race / These quintuplets are glimmers to enshrouded morality / Bitter or sweet C inare told after thorough deliberation / These quintuplets are harbingers to somnolent steps / These quintuplets are turning points for changing values". While the Persian "Rubayi" has four lines, Telugu "Prapanchapadi" allows an additional line and the prefix "Pra" carries significant connotation. Each poem is a unit by itself, inasmuch as it delivers a holistic reflection on the topic chosen. The poet adopts a typical metre for this work, embellishing 1-2 and 4-5 lines with rhyme. The poems are couched in lucid and winsome style. Numerous subjects culled from multiple facets of the society are handled with utmost grasp and mastery. Each poem propounds a pertinent aspect with particular reference to its bearing on human wisdom. unfolding myriad ramifications.

It is imperative that such literary compositions are translated, facilitating other linguistic groups enjoy their magnificence. I deem it a real honour to have been asked by the esteemed Dravidian University torender ‘Prapanchapadulw’ into English. I express my profound sense of gratitude to Jnapith Laureate Dr. Narayana Reddy for according his permission for translation. It is my endeavour to bring in the content and purport of the Telugu original, with all its attributes of flair and nuances of thought and expression, except the specifications of metre and rhyme, while taking care of characteristics of diction, idiom and syntactic elegance o1 poetry in English. J believe my modest effort helps English-knowing-readers savour the splendour of Dr. C. Narayana Reddy’s Poetry.