Lust of Fame - Kodavatiganti Story

This is a trial in translating of a story by Sri Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao garu.
As usual, this is atrial of a fan without considerations to rights etc.

I love the expression in his writings.
The ease with words cannot be imitated either!

Look into this short piece and you would agree!

Lust of fame

“Kamudu is not in the lust of fame” someone made a joke one day! (Kami means a lusty one)

For one in search of fame there are many fields. Actor, cine actor, singer, playback singer, circus clown, platform speaker, athlete (Tennis, football, cricket player) – Kamudu never wanted to be famous in any of these fields.

Since he is a worm of magazines right since childhood, looking at some names that appear frequently in them he used to feel jealous. In some of the months the same name used to appear in three or four monthlies. What fame! After ten or fifteen years, he wanted to reach that status and penanced for it.

Meanwhile he also observed the fame that the literary movements and the progressive writers were plundering. Once he thought he has the qualifications to write started writing. His friends started calling him a writer of the beggars. There was a belief in him that the progress would only come out of the beggars.

On the whole none of the famous magazines ever printed his writings. Magazines with progressive moorings printed some. His works attracted a few communists. They started telling him what to write and how to write etc. They mistook that his culture and the leftist culture were the same. But, he does need the praise form such people. He believes that those who like Gurajada, Kandukuri and Chilakamarthy are better litterateurs.

“Uncle can’t I come up as a writer?’ he asked me.

“Listen. Who would care if you write for poor people? You would get as much name as you write as a reactionary. There may be only a few who like me. There may be thousands who curse me. But, if you want royal patronage and an elevated one that is the only way,” I said.

Implementing on my suggestion, Kamudu became King of Prose. He is getting felicitated in hundreds of places. May it be so!