Tempest of Time: 4-years lament of Dr Kondapalli Neeharini

“I was deeply immersed in thoughts and churned my heart hundreds of times in the last four years … if more incidents causing grief than those giving cheer surround a poet, how can her or his heart remain unresponsive?” These words of Dr. Kondapalli Neeharini from her preface, as brilliantly translated into English by Dr. Elanaga, describe the state of the poet’s heart that produced these poems of lament.
The translation, similar to the transformation of sunlight into the lunar glow by the moon, is a recreative art. It requires grasping the essence of the original writing and then employing style, form, words, and flow to convey the substance of the original writing to a new set of audiences who speak a different language. Dr. Elanaga, being a seasoned writer and poet, could accomplish the difficult task with ease, which is evident from the following examples: No single scene can go without wounding me (A Tide on the Shore of the Pacific Ocean) The debate on how much apart we are … has tied you in the east and me in the west … the real nature of the infinite universe is ‘oil in a tiny mustard seed!’ … the weight being carried is of heart or womb! (Religions – Smiles) All the poems in this book, barring a few, have been composed by Dr. Neeharini during 2018 – 21.
Two of these four years have been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, the most challenging period in human history. There are many poems on COVID-19 in this book. Other subjects in the book include the plight of farmers, the importance of water, festivals of Telangana, homage paid to the departed souls, unequal treatment of women, etc. “Most of my poems were written when I was sad rather than happy”, says Dr Neeharini in her preface hinting at the tone of the book. We can see her sadness in the very first poem ‘Spring’s Splendour in Man’s Wailing’, written on the Telugu new year’s day, 25 March 2020. Just a day early, India initiated its first lockdown to contain COVID-19. The happy note at the beginning – “Like a heroine in the play of my words … I am arriving with spring’s grace” – turned into a sad note at the end – “man’s vileness turned a microbe … singing … destructive ragas of disagreement”. ‘These Persons too, are Present Here’ is about the poor migrant workers who were forced to travel from cities to their far-flung villages by foot, as the trains and buses didn’t move an inch during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Their sweat is critical for nation-building. But, alas, we, the people and the governments of India, left them in the lurch. Dr. Neeharini narrated their suffering in these moving words: They are walking with suitcases … full of ruthless tears … Non-stop is the walk. ‘The Dark Night’ describes COVID-19 as a ‘heap of darkness’. Enugu Narasimha Reddy, in his preface to the book, said the Telugu expression ‘Cheekati Kuppa’ (heap of darkness) is a novel phrase, never used by any other Telugu poet in the past. Such phrases, native to a language, are, perhaps, not translatable. 2 In the eyes of Dr. Neeharini, who always holds a feminist flag in her fist, a policewoman is as responsible and powerful as a policeman:
The profession is a challenge for her … responsibility is always her asset … She is not a policewoman … but a policeman! She is… she is. (In this Battlefield) Telangana is incomplete without mentioning Bathukamma and Bonalu festivals. Dr. Elanaga, the translator, like the author Dr. Neeharini, also hails from Telangana and captured the spirit of these poems completely. Meaning Mother Life, Bathukamma is a conical bamboo frame over which seven layers of seasonal flowers are decorated. Keeping Bathukamma in the center, women form a circle and go around the flower stack dancing and singing: Like weaving poetry, and uniting family … women cross the roads of ups and downs … They pile up flowers in rows. (Bathukamma – women)
During the festival of Bonum (contraction of the Sanskrit word Bhojanam), women cook rice with jaggery in a pot and offer it to regional deities like Yellamma, Maisamma, etc., who are revered as the avatars of Mahakali. Hunger, food… they are not recent ones … but came into existence when life began … lifting a ‘bonum’ is tantamount to … Raising the motherly feeling onto the head! (Bonalu – Dazzlers of Art) Our former Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, hailing from Telangana, is the one who introduced liberal reforms to the Indian economy and “put the nation on the podium of the universe … made it shine brightly”. (P.V., You Are the Renown of Telugu) As an alumnus, Dr. Neeharini went nostalgic when Osmania University celebrated its first centenary in 2018: Conceiving spirit, shaping expression … filling the voids of my heart …Manifests as an institution …in the stream of my dreams. (Osmania, the Glowing Lamp) The other important theme of this collection of poems is Farmer. The poet describes the plight of the farming community in poems such as Special Soldier, Farmer Couple, Beyond a White Cloud, and Plough’s Signature on the Forehead of Soil. Governments, busily announcing concessions for the industry, find no time to make agriculture a respectable and profitable occupation. The farmer has to escape from many a thing …the plunder of markets … the seeds that have not sprouted, meager yield, pests … merciless brokerage, and unstable prices … A farmer is an unusual warrior who erects … a fence around his eyes to protect the crop. (Special Solder) The white cloud symbolizes waterlessness. Similarly, a farmer is helpless and has “no weekend respites … gets up before dawn and goes to the field … gets no hourly wages”. Yet, he “fills the bellies of people” and is “a virtuous man … like a dried tree though”. In the end, the poem warns about the consequences of neglecting a farmer – all the world has to suffer from hunger … Also, becomes a baby sans mother“. (Beyond a White Cloud) Compared to other poems, ‘Farmer Couple’ is a different one. It is a cozy poem, not having a word about pain, hunger, anger, or grief. It narrates various agricultural activities undertaken by the farming couple. He reaps the golden crop with a sickle … she makes the sheaves into a big heap True, he is the backbone of the nation … brings glory to the country … she follows him as an epaulet clung to his shoulder. (Farmer Couple) 3 This poem will take us to our idyllic village life – rural simplicity sans technology, limited wants, happiness in small things, waking up earlier than the sun and rooster, going to paddy fields to work, husband and wife sharing the farming duties in greenery – we go romantic indeed. Over centuries, the rustic peasants have developed native nomenclatures for the tasks of plowing, sowing, reaping, etc. In translations, sometimes, the target language can convey only the meanings of certain words but cannot export the total feel of those words in their original language. However, Dr. Elanaga quite easily gave us the essence through his choice of words – like reaps the golden crop with a sickle; makes the sheaves into a big heap, thrashing the bundles, skill to winnow the chaff from the grain, etc. Though we live on a blue planet, crops dry up in perennial thirst. Carrying a pot of drinking water from far-off places to home becomes the severest struggle in life. Multipurpose dams are the solution that can take water to where it is needed. Dr. Neeharini is elated when the Kaleswaram project is set to serve the people of Telangana. She remembers to thank the engineers who created this marvel: When collecting water is itself a war … blame not the sky … The engineers’ talent has manifested … that led to this temple’s construction. (Field of Dreams) The question mark (?) may appear as a sickle to a farmer, and as an ornament’s hook to a goldsmith. Dr. Neeharini, a wordsmith, sees a cloud and tear in the curve and dot of the question mark. Her eye drops a tear on seeing another poet who is jailed for filling his poems with many question marks: the hands that sowed letters in paths were put behind bars … Full stops of questions are wetting heart walls! (Full stops of questions) Neither a hill resort nor a safari could satisfy Dr. Neeharini’s yearning for a place of contemplation. Finally, she says she wants an island – full of peaceful white swans. She looks forward to an island of swans whenever: a word supposed to have blossomed smiles … was subjected to hacking by harshness … two compound words with opposite meanings … for the din and paths of a philosopher … who wanted no inequalities to exist (For a Swan Island) Stupidly, we have been sawing off the branch we are sitting on and destroying the greenery for our luxuries. The poet laments about the disappearance of trees: The garland of trees with blossomed flowers … and the smell of creatures sat together … It’s a store of medicines, a quiver of rain … It is posing a green question … to the merciless moneyed men. Searching for food, a flock of birds left their nests in the morning.
Upon return in the evening, they could find neither their nests nor the banyan tree over which nests were built. Even saw-toothed machines are perturbed … realizing hacking trees is inhuman. (A Green Question) Now, let me come to the poem ‘Tempest of Time’. Uncontrolled lust is making men into beasts. Trickery is counted as intelligence. Corruption is gaining respect. Seeing these ugly truths, Dr. Neeharini grieves, bemoans, and laments like a mother: If there is any fear now, it’s not of death, but of life … now death is carving its name everywhere … Mothers are meant not just to give birth … fathers should have no illegal relationships … jump as a flag of energy and say, would cut men of lust into pieces … Say you’re the tempest of time … an embodiment of a victorious woman. With 73 poems on 167 pages, the book is the translation of the original ‘Kala Prabhanjanam’ in Telugu. K. Damodar Rao and Pradeep Biswal penned forewords to this book of translation. The 4 Foreword of Enugu Narasimha Reddy, appearing in the Telugu version of the book, has been translated into English. Dr. Surendra Nagaraju, who writes with the penname Elanaga, is an incredible combination of a litterateur and a medical doctor who retired as the Deputy Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh Vaidya Vidhana Parishad. Dr. Neeharini, who writes poetry, stories, and essays, has the rare distinction of having authored the biographies of her father and father-in-law. Her father, Pendyala Raghava Rao, was a parliamentarian and a committed communist who fought against Nizam’s rule in Telangana. Her father-in-law, Dr. Kondapalli Seshagiri Rao, was a prominent Artist and recipient of the Hamsa Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh. In summary, “Tempest of Time” is a collection of poems that reflects Dr. Neeharini’s thoughts on various social themes. Brilliantly translated by Dr. Elanaga, these poems are eloquent and thought-provoking. I recommend the book to those who want to understand the ways of thoughts and sensibilities of progressive writers from Telangana.