Sumati Satakam 11

సుమతి శతకం

పగ వలదెవ్వరితోడను

వగవంగా వలదు లేమి వచ్చినపిదపన్

దెగనాడవలదు సభలను

మగువకు మనసియ్యవలదు మహిలో సుమతీ

paga valadevvari tOdanu

vagavangA valadu lEmi vacchina tOdan

deganAdavaladu sabhalanu

maguvaku manasiyyavaladu mahilO sumatI

పగ = Enmity

వలదు = should not be there

ఎవ్వరితోడను = with anyone

వగవంగా వలదు = Don’t repent

లేమి = poverty

వచ్చిన పిదపన్ = after coming

తెగనాడవలదు = Don’t talk harsh words

సభలను = in a meeting

మగువకు = to a lady

మనసియ్యవలదు = Don’t give your heart

మహిలో = in this land

సుమతీ = Oh the wise one

Oh, the wise one! Don’t have enmity with anyone on this earth. Don’t feel bad when poverty overtakes you. In a congregation do not talk in a way that hurts the feelings of people. Don’t fall in love with a lady, says Baddena in this padyam.

Here the poet tells the world about four things to be abhorred. Two of them are related to the mind, one each to the deeds and words. Enmity is related to anger. Sadness here is about stinginess. Harsh words are about wickedness and love is lust. Thus out of the six avoidables ie. Kama, krodha, moha, lobha, mada, matsarya four are mentioned in this poem.

Enmity and finding fault in others is a habit.  With that one gets angry for sure. There are some who always look for good in everything. Such people will never have any enemies. Forgiveness is the ebst of the human qualities. With that you can win our even the worst of the enemy. Enmity can be bought over by love. Like water dowses a fire, calmness and forgiveness can dowse the problems arising out of worst relationships among people.

That is about the first part of the poem.

A lot can be said about poverty. If poverty comes, there is no use crying about it. If you can, do something to come out of it. It is unwise rejoice in riches and feel bad about poverty. Poverty makes one shy of the world.  That leads to lack of confidence. One becomes dejected and thinks of renunciation. Great people said that poverty leads to all kinds of bad things in life, if one loses confidence.

One has to be cautious when speaking to a collection of people. It is necessary to keep good relations and reputation in the society. Even when what you are telling is truth, it has to be told in a way not to hurt anyone.

Long discourses are made about love. Love for the fellow beings and other creatures are more important than loving a woman. Love for women historically caused a lot of turmoil. Wars are fought for them. Dynasties feel down for them. Few are the people who successfully lived with a loved female. Less said about this is better.

Satakams are fountain heads of knowledge. They can be interpreted in lengthy discourses. Even that is bad perhaps. Wise people can understand for themselves even when told in a single word!!

Dwaram Narasinga Rao - Violin

Dwaram, the less known!

Narasinga Rao Naidu, son of Dwaram Venkatakrishniah Naidu who was the elder brother and guru of legendary Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu, had his training from his father and Venkataswamy Naidu. He worked as violin lecturer and principal of M.R.Government Music College at Vizianagaram for many years and was known as a great guru who treated his scores of disciples with affection.

In his heydays Narasinga Rao Naidu accompanied musical celebrities like Parupalli Ramakrishniah Pantulu, GNB, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, Chembai Vidyanatha Bhagavatar, T.R.Mahalingam and several others. All his sons and daughters are excellent violinists.

Narasingarao Naidu died at the early age of 55. His children Durgaprasada Rao(Retired Principal, Music college, Satyanarayana ( Now at AIR, Hyderabad), Poosarla Manorama (of Music College, Hyderabad) imbibed their father’s superb bowing technique and have earned fame in the field of violin. Satyanarayana joined AIR and was transferred to Hyderabad. I still remember a duet he played along with Sri Marella Kesava Rao a senior from their bani. A concert by the brothers Durgaprasad and Satyanarayana is available in the blog of Mridangam artist Kamalakara Rao. Sri.K.V.Reddy is another prime disciple of Narasingarao Naidu.

The recording of Narasinga Rao I am presenting here is from Andhra Music Academies non commercial cassette. I thank them profusely.

Accompanying artist on the Mridangam, Sri Kolanka Venakta Raju was a legend by himself. He has accompanied almost all the famous artists of the times. Mali preferred him for his concerts. I had the good fortune of meeting Sri Raju and spending some time discussing music. It is interesting that he was a sculptor of the highest order. The statue of Tyagaraja in the premises of Tyagaraja Ganasabha of Hyderabad is sculpted by him. There are many of his disciples in Andhra. His son Sri Lakshman Rao is a fine Mridangam artist.

Sri Dwaram Narasinga Rao - Violin

Sri Kolanka Vekata Raju - Mridangam

01 Teliyaleru Rama - Dhenuka.mp3

http://www.mediafire.com/?d3gg002gnlj

02 Paramatmudu Velige - Vagadhiswari.mp3  

http://www.mediafire.com/?twzxno4otie

03 RTP - Kapi (Tani - Incomplete).mp3

 http://www.mediafire.com/?yjzyzkndt2y

Ostrich Head in Sand

Ostrich Head in Sand

Like many other languages English language is also very rich and descriptive. Someone “hiding their head in the sand, like an ostrich” is said to be foolishly ignoring their problem, while hoping it will magically vanish. The ostrich does many things, but hiding its head in the sand is not one of them.

We have similar situations in Telugu with expressions like 'Kari mingina velaga pandu' . People believe that an elephant eats a wood apple and digests it without breaking the shell! Similarly westerners think an ostrich hides its head when accosted with bad situations. I read this article about ostriches and thought friends would like to read it. Here goes the story!!

That doesn’t stop this metaphor being evocative, and widely used by people in religious studies, political studies, management, military history, sport commerce and the financial markets.

The ostrich is now found only in parts of Africa. It is the largest known bird, up to 2.4 metres high and 155 kg in weight. Ostrich farmers are attracted to the durable ostrich leather, lovely saleable feathers, lean meat and extremely high feed-to-weight-gain ratio (3.5 to 1, much better than cattle at 6 to 1). If scared, the ostrich can run at up to 65 kph. Its kick is powerful enough to bend 10 mm steel rods into right angles, and can easily break a human leg. The ostrich uses its wings for balance (when running) and for courtship and display, when it’s not batting its thick black eyelashes.

Ostriches have three main strategies when attacked. They can run away, they can kick, or they can try to hide (eg, when nursing the eggs). When hiding, they will sometimes lay flat on the ground, with the long neck and head also on the ground. In the rippling heat haze of their native Africa, they can look just like a grassy mound.

The myth that an ostrich will stick its head in the sand, in an effort to hide, may have begun with that great Roman thinker, Pliny the Elder (23-79AD). His real name was Gaius Plinius Secundus. Pliny was a man of intense curiosity about the world around him. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, wrote about him, “He began to work long before daybreak. He read nothing without making extracts; he used even to say that there was no book so bad as not to contain something of value. In the country it was only the time when he was actually in his bath that was exempted from study. When travelling, as though freed from every other care, he devoted himself to study alone. In short, he deemed all time wasted that was not employed in study.”

In 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted - and covered and then preserved the city of Pompeii. While most people ran away from Vesuvius, Pliny went straight into the danger zone to look, learn and rescue survivors - and died in the attempt. In his honour, the most violent volcanic eruptions (such as Krakatoa) are called ultra-plinian.

Before his death, Pliny had almost completed one of the earliest comprehensive encyclopaediae. His Natural History, in 37 books, was a remarkable attempt to summarise all the knowledge known to the Romans. He claimed that he covered some 20,000 topics, which he partly got out of some 2,000 books, which in turn were written by some 100 authors. In fact, he was one of the first writers to acknowledge other authors from whom he quotes, and also one of the first to have a table of contents. His Natural History remained a fundamental source of knowledge to the West through the Dark Ages.

So what did Pliny have to say of ostriches? In Book 10, Chapter 1, he writes, “…they imagine, when they have thrust their head and neck into a bush, that the whole of their body is concealed”.

Historians assume that this single sentence is the root of the myth about ostriches burying their head in the sand.

There is one interesting ostrich behaviour that comes close to burying their head in the sand. When ostriches feed, they sometimes lay their head flat on the ground to swallow sand and pebbles. The hard grit helps them to grind their food in their crop. From a distance, the ostrich looks like it’s burying its head in the sand.

So will you ever see an ostrich with its head in the sand? Not naturally – but it’s a wacky world that we live in. On the globalgourmet.com homepage, Claire and Monty Montgomery describe how they visited the Brandywine Ostrich Ranch in Hemet, California, to see and eat ostrich. The owner, Chip Polvoorde, told them how he helped get an ostrich’s head into a hole in the ground, for a movie shoot. Chip’s friend first dug the hole, laced it with yummy ostrich food, and once the unsuspecting bird had shoved its head into the hole, held it there with sheer brute force until they got their shot.

But I’m sure that once the ostrich got loose, it was the camera crew that had to watch the birdie…

Chembai Old LP

Here is an old LP recording of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar.

This is a very popular one and not available in the market now.

Items are

01 Varanarada - vijayasri

02 Inkaa Dayaraledha - Chakravaham

03 Samagana Vinodini - Hamsanandi

04 Ksheerasagara Sayana - Devagandhari

05 Rara Muralidhara - Vijayanagari

The link is

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca2ec01c269dced3c8

This is the new link and it works.

Ramnad Krishnan - Mummoortlu - Athana

mummUrtulu-aThANA

Listen to an excellent Athana and the Tyagaraja masterpiece in the inimitable voice of Ramanthapuram Krishna Iyer or Ramnad Krishnan as he is popularly known.

This recording is shared with me a famous musician friend of mine. I really do not the source of it.

Neither the accompaniment details are known.

My friend asked me one question regarding this song. Sri Rama is an incarnation of Sri Maha Vishnu.

When the trinity including Vishnu wrote their virtues and placed in the balance, Sri rama’s virtues placed on the other pan are described as being heavier. How can the virtues of his own Avatara be better than the virtues of Vishnu himself, notwithstanding the virtues of Brahma and Siva was the question.

Perhaps Tyagaraja wanted to tell that Amsavataras are sometimes much better than the original God. Such was his devotion to Rama.

I bring to you here the text and the meaning of the Kriti.

The meaning is borrowed from a well known source with thanks.

In this kRti ‘mummUrtulu gumikUDi’ – rAga aThANA, srI tyAgarAja states that even the Trinity sing the praise of srI rAma.

పల్లవి – ముమ్మూర్తులు గుమికూడి పొగడే

ముచ్చట వినుకోరే

అనుపల్లవి – సమ్మతిగ రాజు కొడుకనగ విని

సంశయము తీరక శ్రీరాముని ము....

చరణం – రోసముతో రఘురాముని గుణములు

రూఢిగ తమ గుణములనటు వ్రాసి

త్రాసుననిడ సరి నిల్వలేదని

త్యాగరాజ నుతుడెవడోయనుచును ము.....

Pallavi mummUrtulu gumikUDi pogaDE

muccaTa vinukOrE

Anupallavi sammatiga rAju koDuk(a)naga vini

saMsayamu tIraka srI rAmuni (mum)

Charanam rOsamutO raghurAmuni guNamula

rUDiga tama guNamulan(a)Tu vrAasi

trAsuna(n)iDa sari nilva lEd(a)ni

tyAgarAja nutuD(e)vaDO(y)anucunu (mum)

Meaning:

Please listen to the conversation of the Trinity praising (srI rAma) concertedly.

Having heard that srI rAma is a prince, their doubt not having been dispelled, listen to their conversation of the Trinity praising srI rAma concertedly and whole heartedly.

Being piqued, writing down the virtues of srI raghurAma and their own well-known virtues, as they placed there on a scale, finding that the scale did not balance, listen to the conversation of the Trinity praising srI rAma concertedly, (wondering) as to ‘who this person praised by tyAgarAja could be’.

Word-by-word Meaning

P Please listen (వినుకోరే) to the conversation (ముచ్చట) of the Trinity

(ముమ్మూర్తులు) praising (పొగడే) (శ్రీరామ) concertedly (గుమికూడి)

A Having heard (విని) that (అనగా) srI rAma is a prince - son (కొడుకు)

(కొడుకనగ) of King (రాజు) (దశరథ), their doubt (సంశయము) not having been dispelled (తీరక), listen to their conversation of the Trinity praising srI rAma (రాముని) concertedly and whole heartedly (సమ్మతిగ).

C Being piqued (రోసముతో), writing down (వ్రాసి) the virtues (గుణముల) of srI raghurAma and their own (తమ) well-known (రూఢిగ) virtues (గుణములను), as they placed (ఇడ) there (అటు) (గుణములనటు) on a scale (త్రాసున), finding that (అని) the scale did not (లేదని) balance (సరినిల్వ), listen to the conversation of the Trinity concertedly praising srI rAma, wondering as to (అనుచు) ‘who this person (ఎవడో) praised (నుతుడు) by tyAgarAja could be’.

You can listen to the song here.

Get this widget |      Track details  |                    eSnips Social DNA

If you want to download the song please visit the link below.

You also have a bonus track there.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=10f3f26dc390f408ab1eab3e9fa335ca0abc61036e24c2cf

A page from the diary

I wrote these lines on 30th October 1999.

I am sure I have changed my stand.

I have shared my brain with many, including you now!!

మెదడును పొట్లం కట్టి మంచం కింద దాచుకున్నాను.

ఏ పత్రికకూ పంపించలేదు.

బజార్లో పంచనూ లేదు.

మెదడును కుదువపెట్టి నెలకింత తెచ్చుకు తిందామని ప్రయత్నం

వాళ్లు నామెదడును అరగదీసి గంధంగా నాకే పూస్తున్నారు.

పైగా అది కంపు అంటున్నారు

అరగదీయడం మాత్రం మానడం లేదు.

అంతేగాదు, అమ్ముడవుతుందనుకున్న మెదడు, అంతంతకూ లోపల డొల్లయి పోతోందని అనుమానం కలుగుతున్నది.

కళ్లు ముక్కు చెవులనుంచి వచ్చే సందేశాలను అందులో నింపుకుంటుంన్నదేగానీ

తిరిగి బయటకు రానీయడం లేదు

అందుకే మెదడును పొట్లం కట్టి మంచం కింద దాచేశాను.

కదలడం తెలిసిన మెదడు మధ్యరాత్రెప్పుడో మంచాన్ని కుదేసినట్లుంది.

ఉలిక్కి పడి నిద్ర లేచాను

మెదడు నిశ్శబ్దంగా నవ్వుకున్నదని నాకనుమానం.

సందేహం తీర్చుకుందామంటే ఆలోచన నాదగ్గర లేదు.

అది లేందే ప్రశ్న లేదు.

ప్రశ్నించనిదే జవాబు రాదు.

అంతకు ముందటి ప్రశ్నలు జవాబులు మెదడులో కలగలిసి పోయి, చిక్కు పడిన దారంలా కనబడుతున్నాయి.

విప్పాలంటే విచక్షణ నాదగ్గర లేదు.

చెప్పింది చేయడం మాత్రమే తెలిసిన కండరానికీ, నాకూ ఇప్పుడు తేడా లేదు.

ఒకప్పుడు చెప్పకుండానే గుండెలా విరామం లేకుండా కొట్టుకునే వాడిని

ఇప్పుడు పేస్ మేకర్లో బలం తగ్గి బరువుగా కదులుతున్నాను.

ఇలాంటి కండరానికి ఇక మెదడుతో పని ఏమిటి?

అందుకే మెదడును పొట్లం కట్టి మంచం కింద దాచుకున్నాను

సందేహం తీర్చుకోవాలని అనిపించడం లేదు.

దాన్నిరిమోట్ కంట్రోల్ తో కదిలిస్తున్నారనీ, చదివేస్తున్నారనీ నా అనుమానం

నిద్దరొస్తున్నది.

మెదడు కుదిపేస్తుందేమోనని భయం.

అందుకే నిద్దరొస్తున్నది.

కండరం నిద్రపోతుంది.

మెదడు నిద్రపోదు.

జాగ్రత్త.

I have bundled my brain in a packet and hidden it under the cot.

I have not sent it to any magazine.

Not even distributed in the market.

The effort is to pawn the brain and get some monthly income.

But they are grinding my brain into paste and anointing me with it.

Moreover they say it stinks!

Still they continue to grind it.

What I thought will be sold, is getting empty inside, I doubt.

It is filling itself with the messages received from the eyes, nose and the ears and not letting anything out.

Only hence, I have bundled it and hidden under the cot.

Brain, that knows to move, looks like shook the cot in the middle of the night.

I was shaken out of sleep.

I doubt that the brain laughed silently.

To clear my doubt,

I do not have the ideas with me.

Without them there is no question.

No answer comes forth without a question.

Earlier questions and the answers are mixed up and are looking like a tangled mass of thread.

To untangle it I do not have the discrimination with me.

There is no difference between me and a muscle that only obeys a n order.

At one point of time I used pulsate like a heart without any command.

Now, the pacemaker has grown week and I am ticking very weak.

What has such muscle got to do with the brain?

Only hence, I have bundled up the brain and hidden it under the cot.

I have doubt that someone is manipulating with a remote control and playing with it.

I do not have the urge to clear the doubt.

I am sleepy.

I am afraid that the brain will shake me up.

That is why I am sleepy.

Muscle goes to sleep.

Mind would not.

Beware!

Chinta Deekshitulu - Children's Literature

Chinta Deekshitulu Sahityam

1891 – 1960

This is a commemoration volume and not a commercial release. There was this centenary celebration committee in 1901 which took all the troubles to collect and publish most of the works of this unpretentious writer not known to many people now. Mr Subbarayan who was on the editorial board lent me this book. Before I return it to him, he went away to join Sri Deekshitulu in the other world. Of course Subbarayan has many of my books and material in his library, which is out of access to me now.

Sri Velaga Venkatappayya right at that time of publication only wrote that the works of Deekshitulu were not available in print for three decades. The reason given was very interesting. All the library copies were worn out because children read them too often. That sounds very interesting.

Mr.B. Subbarayan, before he departed saw to it that “Hanumantuni Toka” a poetic work of Deekshitulu was printed along with excellent colour illustration by none other than Bujjai. The book must be available with Andhra Mahila Sabha’s Literacy House at Hyderabad. That reminds me the absence of a copy in my collection. I asked about the original art work in big size of the book, and Subbarayan told that it is safe in his personal collection. I wish the family takes care of thousands of books he had.

Now to Sri Chinta Deekshitulu and his works.

The book published by the centenary committee contains more than 300 pages. There are children’s songs, stories, novels, humor, translations and other works included here. All of them are the best of the examples of fine children’s literature.

I am sure this book was printed in limited numbers and distributed among people attending the programme. There is no price mentioned anywhere. So, there is no probability of finding it in book stores. I wish somebody takes the rights and prints the works again.

Till then best I can do is to bring to a glimpse of the contents.

కవిత

పక్కున సూర్యుడు నవ్వాడంటే

పట్టపగలు ఈ లోకముకు

పక్కున చంద్రుడు నవ్వాడంటే

చల్లని వెన్నెల జగములకు

పక్కున పాపాయి నవ్వాడంటే

పరమానందం నీకూ నాకూ

నవ్వడమెందుకు నిజము పలకవే

అవునో కాదో అలివేణీ.

నేను పెద్దవాడనైనాక – కథ

రెండెద్దులూ ఒక బండీ కొంటాను. ఒక కొరడా కట్టుతాను. దానికి పువ్వులు కడతాను. ఎద్దుల మెడ నిండా గంటలు కట్టుతాను. ఎద్దులను బండి కట్టి, కొరడా చేత్తో బుచ్చుకొని సాయంత్రం దాకా తోలితోలి కొండల అవతలికి వెళ్లిపోతాను. కొండలవతల నక్షత్రాలూ అవీ ఉన్నాయి. వాటితో అక్కడ ఆడుకుంటూ కూచుంటాను. నాన్నలాగ ఎప్పుడూ కచేరీకి వెళ్లను.

నేను పెద్దవాడనయినాక!

పేద్ద నిచ్చెన ఒకటి చేయిస్తాను. ఆ నిచ్చెన భూమిలో పాతుతాను. ఆ నిచ్చెన ఎంతో పేద్దది. అది ఎక్కి ఆకాశం దగ్గరిదాకా వెళ్ళుతాను. వెళ్ళి ఆకాశాన్ని ముట్టుకుంటాను. నిచ్చెన చివార నిలబడి నక్షత్రాలు కోస్తాను. కోసి జేబులో వేసుకుని ఆడుకుంటాను. ఎప్పుడూ అక్కడే ఉండిపోతాను. కిందకు యెప్పుడూ దిగిరాను. నయినా

నేను పెద్దవాడనయినాక!

ఎన్నో రూపాయిలు నా పెట్టినిండా ఉంటాయి. ఆ రూపాయిలన్నింటితోటీ సెనగపప్పు, కారప్పూసా కొనుక్కుంటాను. నాన్న కారప్పూస కొనుక్కోవడానికి రోజూ ఒక డబ్బేగాని ఇవ్వడు. యెవ్వరికీ పెట్టకుండా అంతా నేనే తినేస్తాను. అమ్మ కారప్పూస ఎవరికీ పెట్టనివ్వదు. నేను ఆవుదూడలకీ కుక్కపిల్లలకీ మాత్రం పెట్టుతాను.

నేను పెద్దవాడనయినాక!

ఇంటిచుట్టూరాను పెరట్లోకి అన్నీ పూలమొక్కలు పాతుతాను. రోజూ రెండుపూటలా వాటికి నీళ్ళు పోస్తాను. అవి పువ్వులు పూస్తాయి. పువ్వులన్నీ దండలు గుచ్చి మెళ్ళో వేసుకుంటాను.

నేను పెద్దవాడనయినాక!

ఒక వాచీ కలమూ కొనుక్కుంటాను. వాచీ ఎప్పుడూ తిప్పుతో కూచుంటాను. కలంతో ఎప్పుడూ ఉత్తరాలు రాస్తుంటాను.

నేను పెద్దవాడనయినాక!

బళ్లోకి అసలు వెళ్ళనే వెళ్ళను. కావలిస్తే అమ్మనీ నాన్ననీ వెళ్ళమంటాను. నేనేమో సైకిలూ కారూ కొని ఊరంతా షికారు తిరిగివస్తాను.

నేను పద్దవాడనయ్యాక ఎన్నెన్నో చేస్తాను.

After I grow up!

I’ll buy two bullocks and a cart. I’ll also make a lash. I’ll tie flowers to it. I’ll tie bells around the necks of the bulls fully. I’ll tie the bullocks to the cart and with the lash I my hand, I’ll travel till thee vening and reach the other side of the hills. There are stars and the other things on the other side of the hills. I’ll sit there playing with them. I’ll never go the office like father.

After I grow up!

I’ll get one beeg ladder made. I’ll erect in the earth. The ladder will be really beeg. I’ll climb on it and reach the sky. I’ll touch the sky there. Standing on the top of the ladder I’ll reap stars. I’ll put them in my pocket and play with them. I’ll stay there for ever. I’ll never come down! OK!

After I grow up!

My box will be full of lot of rupees. With all those rupees I’ll buy Bengal gram and Khara namkeen. Father never gives more than one pie in a day to buy Khara. I’ll eat off all of it without giving any one. Mother does not allow giving Khara to anyone. I’ll give it to calves and pups only.

After I grow up!

I’ll plant a lot of flowering plants all around in the yard around the house. I’ll give them water twice daily. They will flower. I’ll make garlands and put them around my neck.

After I grow up!

I’ll buy a watch and a pen. I’ll keep winding the watch always. With the pen I’ll keep writing letters always.

After I grow up!

I’ll never go to school. If it comes to that I’ll ask mother and father to go there. I’ll buy a cycle and a car, and keep going around the town and come back.

I’ll do lot after I grow up!

That must be the best of the story I ever read! The novels are master pieces. They are very good material for TV serials. I wish more people could read Sri Deekshitulu’s works!