Telangana celebrates victory with a song

It is again that time of the year when we celebrate the victory of Telangana identity; the formation of a separate state on June 2 that has been the dream and goal of several of our leaders since decades. And it is probably yet another inimitable feature of this unique land that every year, during this time, special songs are released on television channels and online, celebrating the state and the people.

They gain immense popularity at par with any film song, and more so. This year too TV’s song written by Dr Kandikonda and sung by Satyavathi Rathod aka Mangli is trending. Another song ‘Magani Matti’ sung by Madhupriya too has released this year. Popular singer Telu Vijaya’s ‘Jayaho Telangana’ too is climbing up the charts.

Folk singer Saichand Veeda’s ‘Amma Vandanam’ is melodious and different in its rendition. And, there are more to be released. As Mangli said, “Telangana wouldn’t have been possible without songs. Songs reach quickly to people and help them to understand the gravity of any situation”.

Going back in time, ‘Bandenka Bandi Gatti’ – the then young baladeer Gaddar dances and sings away in abandonment and the inspired youth sing along with him in a famous scene from National Award-winning film ‘Maa Bhoomi’ – the song that inspired the masses and was later adapted into the movie continues in its popularity till date.

In later years, yet another song ‘Podustunna Poddumeeda’ by Gaddar became the official protest song during the Telangana movement that gained in momentum again from 2009.

‘Poru’ literally translated as protest or fight has been part of Telangana history. And, be it the Dalit movement or the Telangana movement of the 60s, songs took the fight and the sentiment for a separate identity into the people. They gave renewed vigour to the movements and kept people united.

‘Pommante Povera’ by Goreti Venkanna, ‘Vanamma Vanamma’ by Jayaraju, ‘Veerulara Vandanam’ by Daruvu Yellanna, ‘Nageti Sallallo’ by Nandini Siddha Reddy and several other songs were played with passion on the loudspeakers and performed on stage that held people in sway in a way a speech would probably not have.
Yet another popular balladeer Goreti Venkanna had said in one of his earlier interviews about how Telangana has been a land of songs and dance.

The people have been close to nature and have been singing paeans to nature, which is evident in the Bathukamma songs. This culture of songs to express their feelings - celebration and distress had made its way into the Telangana movement, and in 2014 when finally, after decades of struggle and sacrifice, separate Telangana was announced, the same songs became the songs of celebration and identity.

Continuing the tradition, every year, several enthusiastic writers, musicians and singers get together to create songs that sing in praise of the land, culture and people. The songs make their way into people’s hearts, trend in a big way on social media and You Tube and downloaded by millions. Catching up on the trend are the television and web channels who have been instrumental in making catchy songs that have over the years become extremely popular.

Today, most of these songs talk of the significance of Telangana and reel out names and events of the history, making these important events immortal, in people’s mind. However, monotony is creeping in. Song writer Mittapally Surender calls it corporatisation of song. “People’s poets like Sanjeevanna, Guda Anjaiah have lived through the protest, have seen the struggle and they have passed on their experiences and inspiration to the next generation.

But talented people’s poets of this generation, even before passing on the tradition to the next generation, have stopped writing. Their priorities have changed. This is a major loss to the song culture, which is now inundated by poetry that focuses on beauty of words than the essence and is majorly missing out on the livelihood of people and wrongly representing the culture due to lack of knowledge. Songs are increasingly being written for commercial purposes,” laments Surender who has written many songs, including the very famous song – ‘Janani Janani’ in 2012.