My SCRAPBOOK (సేకరణలు): A COLLECTION of articles in English and Telugu(తెలుగు), from various sources, on varied subjects. I do not claim credit for any of the contents of these postings as my own.A student's declaration made at the end of his answer paper, holds good to the articles here too:"I hereby declare that the answers written above are true to the best of my friend's knowledge and I claim no responsibility whatsoever of the correctness of the answers."

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

1263-The Telugu navala

My recent item on the early Tamil novel (Miscellany, August 12) had reader Saraswathi Rao wondering whether or not Sri Ranga Raja Charitra by Narahari Gopala Krishnamma Chetty was the first Telugu novel. No authority on the subject, I did some checking around and discovered that it had been written in 1872, was dedicated to Lord Mayo, and had been described by the Fort St. George Gazette as being “ apparently the first attempt ever made… at novel writing in Telugu prose.” The author was at the time the Deputy Collector of Kurnool District and undertook the work in response to a notice by Lord Mayo, the then Governor-General, that had appeared in the Bengal Gazette .
The notice had stated that a work of fiction featuring the customs and rituals of the Bengalis would be rewarded. Lord Mayo saw this as a means of getting the British administrators, who till then had only to learn the language, better acquainted with the customs of the people. Krishnamma Chetty decided to do this on behalf of the Telugu people of Madras Province. He called it a “navina prabandham”, emphasising that it was an original story — not a translation — and re-emphasising that it was ‘new’. Set in the 15th Century, it tells the story of Sri Ranga Raju of the Vijayanagar dynasty and describes the customs and rituals prevalent at the time. These customs have not changed at all, Chetty points out in criticism. Was this then an attempt to urge society to change as well as break caste taboos, wonders a later commentator.

What intrigued me in this commentary, however, was the use of the term navala , the word used in Telugu today, I’m told, for ‘novel’. Kasibhatta Brahmayya Sastry, a scholar, is quoted as saying, “In English, the word ‘novel’ has come out of ‘nav’ which means ‘new’. It is not clear that this ‘nav’ is related to ‘nava’ of Sanskrit. Therefore, ‘navala’ means that (literary form) which has new features — navan visesan lati grihnati iti navala. In English too the word bears the same meaning. Therefore, I am using here the word ‘navala’ for this (literary form) instead of attempting to coin another Sanskrit word.”
Sastry’s use of ‘navala’ came in a commentary he wrote c.1900 on the second Telugu novel, Raja Sekhara Charitra by Kandukuri Veeresha Lingam, which was serialised in 1878 in the author’s own journal, Viveka Vardhani . The word has apparently stuck since then.
No doubt, there’ll be more on this, one of these days, from readers.

(S.Muthiah, Madras Miscellany, Metroplus, Chennai, The Hindu, 26:08:2013)
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1262-It was life without care

The broken doll-stains all over its face
Playing with tennis ball and breaking a vase
Stealing money from daddy’s pocket
Playing gully cricket without wickets
Hiding in a corner when mother is calling
Running zig-zag when sister is chasing
Playing hide-and-seek with friends
It is an enjoyment that never ends
NCC camps, visit to the zoo and picnic
School assembly, homework and acting sick
Going to the ancestral village by the steam train
Counting electric poles through the window pane
Reading the Illustrated Weekly and Phantom comics
Going to the circus and enjoying the tricks
Listening to Binaca geetmala and j aymala on the radio
Taking black and white photo at the studio
Bunking school and going to the cinemaWhen the power went off cursing the operator
Bell bottom pants that swept the street
Listening to Abba and Boney M — a real treat
Street corner meetings in the evening
Carrying tales of neighbourhood with zing
Kite flying with m anja string
Catching the running bus, paying half the fare
It sure was a life without a care!

(Philip Joshua, Open Page, The Hindu, 25:08:2013)
(The writer’s email: philip1957@gmail.com)
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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

1261-Jest joking:-)

wife: Kya Kar Rahe Ho?

Hubby: Office Mein Hoon, Bohat Busy Hoon aur Tum Kya Kar Rahi Ho?

Wife: KFC Mein Tumhare Peeche Bachon K Saath Baithi Hoon
Aur Bacche Pooch Rahe Hain K Papa K Saath Konsi BUA Baithi Hai?
(via Facebook/ Jagmeet bal)


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