Gratitude

Padma Bhushan Kavi Samraat Shri Viswanadha Satyanarayana was a Telugu writer of the 20th century. At that time, there was no contemporary in Telugu literature who could match his depth of the subjects he covered and his mastery of literature. His works included poetry, novels, drama, short stories and speeches, covering a wide range of subjects such as analysis of history, philosophy, religion, sociology, political science, linguistics, psychology and consciousness studies, epistemology, aesthetics and spiritualism. works includes 30 poems, 20 plays, 60 novels, 10 critical estimates, 200 Khand kavyas, 35 short stories, three play lets, 70 essays, 50 radio plays, 10 essays in English, 10 works is Sanskrit, three translations, 100 introductions and forewords as well as radio talks. Some of his poems and novels translated into English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Urdu and Sanskrit. He awarded with the Jnanpith Award for his ‘Ramayana Kalpavruksham'. Veyipadagalu is the critically acclaimed novel as one of the best in Telugu literature. He awarded with Padma Bhushan in 1971.

I was his student learnt Yati, Prasa (rhyme) and Chandas (meter), I was granted an opportunity of assisting while he was finishing his work  Veyipadagalu (The Thousand Hoods)He sharpened my learning Veda Rahasya. This led me to continue my research in Agama Sastra, Hora Sastra, Hasta Sastra, Vastu Sastra, and Vimana Sastra.

He is a true mentor and I pay my most humble respects to this Master.My mentor Padma Bhushan Kavi Samraat Shri Viswanadha Satyanarayana introduced me to Tenneti Hemalatha in 1957, a most popular Telugu writer and was a well known as Lata. She started her career as an announcer of the AIR at Vijayawada in 1955. She was a singer and participated in radio plays and later acted in, and wrote dialogue for, movies. She had written 105 novels, 700 radio plays, 100 short stories, ten stage dramas, five volumes of literary essays, two volumes of literary criticism, and one volume of Lata Vyasaalu, as well as 25 charitra kandani Prema kathalu poems. Her novels Gaali Padagalu, Neeti Budagalu Mohanavamsi, and Antharanga Chitram became a source inspiration to me. She was a member of the Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy for twenty years. Andhra University honoured her with a Kalaprapoorna doctorate. She was awarded the Gruhalakshmi Swarnakankanam in 1963. She was given the "Extraordinary woman award" by the government of Andhra Pradesh in 1981.

She was responsible for my induction to Radio Plays. When she started writing a series of feature articles in Andhra Prabha weekly, under the running title, Uhaagaanam [musings] from 1958 to 1963, I chanced upon closely associating with her. Its success was unbelievable. Lata became a household name and the readership for the weekly magazine escalated greatly. It used to be down-to-earth and yet poetic. The Uhaagaanam articles featured her humour on one level. At another level, she also was capable of initiating challenging dialogues among the elite on topics such as god, traditional values, and religion. Her knack for imagery is amazing. Whether it is her sparkling enthusiasm for life or antipathy for the injustices in the society, it is always entrenched in a combination of sarcasm, sharp wit and uncanny humour.

With most respectfully, I am offering my great tributes to Lata, who   was a prolific and influential writer who wrote about various situations and gifted me art of writing in Telugu.