Nation loses veteran Telugu poet-writer

Legendary Telugu poet, writer and Jnanpith awardee C Narayana Reddy, popularly known as CiNaRe, passed away here in the early hours on Monday.

Reddy was an established writer in modern Telugu literature with a multi-faceted personality as a poet, critic, popular lyricist of Telugu film songs, play-wright, and an educationist and orator.

The 85-year-old doyen of Telugu language had to his credit more than 80 publications, which include poems, film songs, lyrical dramas, ballets, essays, travelogues, ghazals –original and in translation –and literary criticism. Reddy's works have been regarded as trend-setters. He had nearly 3,500 film songs to his credit.

"After he developed health complications, he was shifted to a private hospital in Manikonda at around 3 AM where doctors pronounced him dead," sources said. The former Rajya Sabha member is survived by four daughters.

Reddy, born on July 29, 1931, came from a family of agriculturists belonging to Hanumajipeta, a remote village in Karimnagar district.

He had his early education in Urdu medium as his village was situated in the erstwhile Nizam's state. The early education gave him a grip over the language and he developed a taste for its literature.

The poetry of his youth is full of romantic enthusiasm, especially because romantic poetry was the dominant trend in Telugu poetry at that time.

Still, he never lost touch with reality. Some of his early collections of poems like "Jalapatham" (Waterfall,1953), "Narayana Reddy Geyalu" (1955) and "Divvela Muvvalu" (Anklet- Bells of Lights, 1959) amply demonstrate this.

The best representative of the romantic phase of Reddy's poetry is "Karpoora Vasantha Raayalu", which was published in 1957 when he was just 26.

His research work on modern Telugu poetry, assessing the influence of tradition and experiment on it, has been a classic since its publication in 1967. The eminent writer and lyricist was one of the most distinguished Telugu poets of his generation.

"Mantalu Manavudu" (The Flames and the Man, 1970) heralded a new phase in the evolution of Narayana, the poet. He was given the Central Sahitya Akademi Award for this volume of free verse.

His compilation of poems titled "Vishwambhara", published in 1980, was a magnum opus. He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1977 and the Padma Bhushan in 1992.

Recognising his outstanding contribution to Indian literature during the period 1968-82, Reddy was presented with Jnanpith Award for the year 1988. In August 1997, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Reddy was the professor of Telugu in Osmania University.