An ode to the Muse
-
BS Murthy
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| Friday 6th of September 2024 02:41:20 PM (UTC)
This is my English rendition of Dwana Sastry’s nānēs tribute in Telugu to the Jnānpēth ascendant, Dr. C. Narayana Reddy (Cināre), on his 75th birthday.
Cingireddi Narayana Reddy (29 July 1931 – 12 June 2017) was an Indian Telugu-language poet and writer. Reddy had produced over eighty literary works including poems, prose-plays, lyrical plays, translations, and ghazals. He was also a professor, lyricist, actor, and Rajya Sabha politician. Reddy was awarded the Jnānpēth Award by the government of India in 1988, and he served as the Vice Chancellor of Telugu University.
1
So to savour
Cināre’s verse,
Goes Jnānpēth
To Hanumānjipet.
2.
Hi, Sastryji
Cināre greets,
Brings that warmth
To Dwana’s heart.
3
Beckons as Dwana
Ever he grants,
Cināre’s love
It’s Dwana’s pride.
4
Takes he mike
It sings his tune,
Glued to seats
All sit spellbound.
5
‘Rise as thou
Cavils if world
‘Grow sky-high’,
Is Cināre quote.
6
Instant scale
As gives printout
So his reply
Comes post-haste.
7
Grace Golconda
So Tank-bund,
Made Cināre the city his own
Hath which charms of Charminar.
8
As it shapes
He spots talent,
Pats he backs
Of rising stars.
9
Sees he far ‘n
Wide as well,
Nurses he all
Regions three.
10.
Burn in envy
At his back,
Face to face
They show their teeth.
11
Where leads envy,
Cināre, those?
Stay they put
At alphabets best.
12
Find in Cināre
Small-timers,
Mother-like love
That sooths them all.
13
Hold on old
Eye for new,
Holds he ever
Young ‘n old.
14
Break its back
As score gathered,
Stage sans Cināre
Seems empty.
15
Wraps he ghazal
In Telugu garb,
Lends that charm
To both of them.
16
Speaks as he
In sonorous tone,
Out of tune seem
Speaks who next.
17
Count on Cināre
Doth he have
Dig at false airs
Thou put on.
18
Oratory is but
State of the art,
Log into Cināre
Dot com quick.
19
With his muse
Of all seasons,
Makes he tango
With mod verse.
20
Ever he reaches
One and all,
Share thee dais
And seem so small.
21
Words in rhyme
With rhythmic force,
Horse-like trots
His flow of verse.
22
On the seat
Of power he sits,
Cascade like he
Holds his sway.
23
Sees he moon
In broad daylight,
Takes his muse
All worlds in stride.
24
Sung to tune
In soulful tone,
Lyrics his grace
Well silver screen.
25
It’s with buds of sannajaji
Pōlamala he came to weave,
Blossoms that for times to come
Fragrance of it never to wane.
26
Discourse his
On modern verse,
Treatise it makes
On rules of muse.
27
Wit his sparkles
Telugu phrase,
Gives its cutting
Edge his pun.
28
Nook ‘n corner
Of mother earth,
Travelogues of his
Spread his word.
29
Of the parishad
That he built,
Suravaram et al
But make pillars.
30
Helps his verse
Peripheral press
Rub its shoulders
Mainstream with.
31
Land-line his
In Hyderabad
Brings to ear
His hallowed tone.
32
Podium high
Of art itself,
Cināre sans
Seems artless.
33
It’s no joke
To ever compile
Works of writers
He unveiled.
34
Brings he Midas
Touch to verse
Gave his village
House to books.
35
To aver that one
Never espied him,
Akin to saying
Saw none clouds.
36
Runs as stream
Of verse in him,
Makes his muse
Flood world of word.
37
Sweet is Vennelavāda verse
Savours one but to the end,
Words that sculp in Ramappa
Ajanta as well move no end.
38
Surname his
Well, Chaitanyam,
Hath it traits
Of high wisdom.
39
Verse his metre
Desi true,
Shows the way
To rhyme itself.
40
Apart fragrance of his love
Acquaintance with Cināre
Accrues to one benefits of
Aspects life of uprightness.
41
Not for him
Ever nit-picking,
Makes him that
The revered One.
42
Withers not age
Nor stales custom,
Shakespeare could’ve
Said of him.
43
Turns he deity
On the stage,
Casts he spell
On one and all.
44
Roots with his
In Telangana.
Rose he high
In poetic world.
45
In the school
Of Hindustan,
Stands he tall
As Headmaster.
46
On the plots
Of time he owns,
Builds he blocks
Of disciplined life.
47
Curly hair that
Crowned his head,
Passed since reign
To bald eminence.
48
Takes he note
Of all to note,
Prone not to miss
Pros and cons.
49
Saintly though
He’s worldly too,
As it comes
He takes his life.
50
Stumps he all
Who leave the crease,
Irks all those
Who bear witness.
51
Muse as rooted
In grassroots,
Verse his covers
Worlds all there.
52
Shapes he life
To suit his needs,
Tread occult his
Science footprints.
53
It’s in poetry
Lays he store,
Well, if mimicry
God save thee.
54
For the soul
Of common man,
What a feel doth
Hath this man!
55
Warmth of his
For tinsel world,
Gummadi’s demeanour
Shows the world.
56.
How I wish
It’s I, who owned,
Gopi’s slot
In Cināre heart.
57
Hard to please
Was N.T.R,
But won Cināre
The former’s heart.
58
Cināre’s lyrics
Or celluloid reels,
Bestowed which
To which glamour?
59
It’s by folk touch
Which he gave
Got such verve
The Telugu song.
60.
Alien though are
Bhajans Mērā’s,
Imparts pen his
Telugu touch.
61
Of the innate
Child in him,
Power ’n position
Couldn’t rob him.
62
Taught in Telugu
Schooled in Urdu,
Feathers he adds
To both their caps.
63
Forewords his
To books of theirs,
Help all authors
Make their mark.
64
No great deal to
Guess it right
Makes who face
Of Andhra arts.
65
End eras
To bring new ones,
Ends not time
His poetic hold.
66
Pelt ’n see
Stones at him,
Turn they pearls all
As he smiles.
67
Fatherly love
That he bears,
Fills the heart
Of Ms. Ganga.
68
Won he laurels
Others he lauds,
Get bluestockings
Share their due.
69
Takes the cake
Late better-half his,
It’s in her name
He hands out.
70
Ever he values
Fair sex more,
Proved he siring
Girls all four.
71
Looks his belie
Passed he through,
Years all those
Full seventy-four.
72
Not for him
Is writer’s block,
Ever he pens
The verse he breathes.
73
Why not Cināre
Take fresh guard,
And get going
For thy ton.
74
When that happens
Won’t Gibbon
Come down to note how Telugu
Muse so rose high in years all those.
75
Look ye forward
For that day,
But for now have
Dwana’s nānēs.
