Ravinutala Satyanarayana was the one writer who lived all his life in and among books. Having started reading books very early in life he continued to read voraciously all his life. But his work, his interest was always in Telugu literature and Telugu books. Hailing from a village called Buddikurapadu in Prakasam District of AP he moved to Chennai for higher studies. After Chennai, he shifted to Kolkata to work in the National Library and built up the Telugu section. From Kolkata to Delhi where he worked in National institutes of research like CSIR, INSDOC, and IGNOU. He retired as Professor of Library and Information Sciences from IGNOU. All his associations with higher institutes of research helped him to develop a keen inquisitive mind best suited to research and academic writing. His love for Telugu literature was his constant companion and he finally relocated himself, with his wife, after retirement to Hyderabad to be able to work on his dream projects in Telugu literature. He was fortunate enough to find a friend in the editor of Misimi, a Telugu magazine. His first series in Misimi titled Puraskara Sahityam started soon enough.
In Puraskara Sahityam Prof Satyanarayana brilliantly analyses the Sahitya academy award-winning books for six decades (1955-2014). Starting with Suravaram Pratapa Reddy (1955) he critically assessed 27 writers and their books. This series was later published as a book with the active support and cooperation of his wife Smt. Ravinutala Varalakshmi who retired from the Andhra School Delhi after a distinguished career.
All the essays were presented within an organized framework. Each article tells the reader about the background of the writer, his works, and includes a comprehensive analysis of his award-winning book. For each writer, he devoted time to research and wrote a comprehensive analysis of the life work and the detailed review of the book that got the academy award.
When you actually look at the award-winning books all in one place one gets to have an overall understanding of a region’s literature, its culture, its issues as a society, and also in India it is particularly important for one to know how the writers have dealt with issues like gender, caste, and other discriminations. At times the voices of the marginalized are heard through these writers. I am sure most of us do not even know or remember that Swamy Chirantananada got an academy award for his book on The Life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa in 1957 and Ponamgi Sri Rama Apparao for Bharathuni Natyasastramu in 1960. Even today It is the standard text for the Oriental Colleges on Natya Sastra. Well-known AIR music composer Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao was awarded for his Andhra Vaggyeyakara Charitamu. Novelists like Viswanatha, Malathis Chnadur, Munipalle Raju, poets like Jashua, Tilak, Rayaprolu Subba Rao, Dasarathi, Boyi Bheemanna, Devulapalli Krishna Sastry, critics like Rachamallu Ramachandra Reddy, Chekuri Rama Rao, and Katyayani Vidmahe figured in this for their work and their distinction as representatives of a thriving culture and literature. Special mention needs to be made Of Katyayayani Vidmahe whose book covered almost the entire canvas of women writers and their concerns and talents.
On the whole, reading this book is an enriching experience. It can be used in any university in India or abroad where Telugu literature is taught or introductory courses are floated. I am personally aware of universities like Wisconsin, Texas, and Maryland where universities are teaching South Asian languages and Literature. I congratulate the family for taking pains to bring out Ravinutala’s work with excellent production quality. They have recently added to this two more books Vyasa Manjusha and Saraswatha Vyasaalu which will be a useful addition to any course on literary criticism.
