Spreading the Fragrance of Dance

Another book from the prolific pen of Dr Pappu Venugopala Rao, ‘Fragrance of Padams’, was released at Sapta parni on Tuesday. Under its familiar Temple Tree, many such books were released by the renowned dance scholar, many a dance lover listened to him with rapt attention, bought his books and went back home happy. But this time, the dance historian of Telugu origin who settled down in Chennai, had chosen to release it on a Tamil New Year day, knowing fully well that ultimately it is the Tamilians who will follow his book, add these lovely Telugu padams to their repertoire and spread them in the dance world.

It may not flatter Telugu ego, but it is the truth. The venue had a festive look, befitting the occasion, with glowing lamps around the dais. Natyasamgraha, the active cultural body initiated by “Pappu Sir” was given the privilege of hosting this event, for their godfather’s newest number. Kingshuk Nag, Resident Editor - Times of India was the chief guest. A recipient of the prestigious Prem Bhatia Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Reporting and Analysis, and author of political books, he honestly and good humouredly admitted ignorance of the subject, bringing smiles on every one’s face.

Sri Ravi Shankar Kantamneni, an expert in Computer Applications and Business Administration, impressed all, with his love for the Telugu language. His passion for his mother tongue motivated him to start www.TeluguOne.com, contributing majorly to the uplifting of this “number one” language. He brought to light, a sad truth that illiteracy is the only factor that will help the Telugu language to live on.

Most of the Telugu people don’t read or write in their mother tongue and feel embarrassed to speak in Telugu! Dr Maddali Usha Gayatri, a well known Kuchipudi dancer and Hamsaa awardee, reviewed the book, bringing out its finer aspects. The author Dr Pappu Venugopal Rao said in his address that a successful exposition of a padam is often regarded as the ultimate test to a dancer’s abhinaya skills. The work intends to help dancers, including the non-Telugu dancers and connoisseurs to understand the words of their poets, through its easy structuring.

The hundred padams that are presented in the book are written by Telugu poets such as Tallapaka Annamacharya, Sarangapani, Kshetreyya, Dasu Sreeramulu etc. He stated that this book is an attempt to immortalize the works of these poets and understand human psyche in the process. As Ravikanth sang, Yashoda Thakore gave a short impromptu demonstration to one of the padams from the book, “Ninnu choosi naalugaidu nela laaye”, a Kshetrayya padam in Punnagavarali.

By:Vijaya Pratap