Writer Gidugu passes away

• Suffers cardiac arrest at Delhi railway station
• Grandson of Gidugu Ramamurthy Pantulu, he was a crusader of spoken Telugu

Hyderabad : Well-known writer Gidugu Rajeswara Rao (80) died of cardiac arrest on Sunday morning at New Delhi railway station. He was about to board Sampark Kranti Express bound for Hyderabad when he suffered mild stroke and collapsed. His son who was with him at that time, rushed him immediately to a nearby hospital where he was declared "brought dead".

Rajeswara Rao's wife had passed away some years ago and he had been staying with his son in New Delhi, who is a doctor in Indian Army. He has a daughter, Snehalatha Murali, who is a professional singer and a cultural activist. Gidugu Rajeswara Rao was a grandson of Gidugu Ramamurthy Pantulu, the crusader of spoken language movement. Rajeswara Rao was to reach Hyderabad on Monday to participate in the month-long 150th anniversary celebrations of his grandfather along with his other relatives.

"He told us to travel to Parvathalupeta, the native village of Gidugu in Srikakulam district on August 4, where the first programme will be held. The celebrations were to culminate in Hyderabad on August 29. His sudden death has left the literary fraternity saddened. "Now, we may have to turn the 150th year event into a commemorative meeting for Rajeswara Rao as well" Vedagiri Ramababu, eminent writer, told The Hans India.

Interestingly, Gidugu Rajeswara Rao was a rather late entrant into the literary world. He had worked as an officer at AG office for 30 years and one of the active participants of the programmes organized by Ranjani, the literary wing of AG office.

"I had a chance to meet some of the literary giants during that time which inspired me to scribble some short stories, especially for children. After my retirement, I continued it with a passion and tried to foray into many streams of Telugu literature" he told The Hans India, in his last interview given a month ago in Hyderabad.

He brought out two volumes of his short stories, which will give an idea of his incisive observation and thinking and his ability to address some of the core problems faced by the society. Most of the characters resemble our neighbours or people known to us.

Rajeswara Rao's works -� Bhaava Veechikalu, Amulya Kshnalu, Pula Teru and Kalindilo Vennela -- placed him firmly in the Telugu literature. He has written many a popular light music song and anecdotes for children. He released his latest work "Nature" � a narration of nature with the accompaniment of illustrations he had collected on his own over the years -- in Hyderabad recently.

His work on his grandfather -- "Udaatta Charitudu" gives us an insight intothe legendary crusader and the yeoman work he had done for promoting the colloquial Telugu along with Gurajada Apparao.