In memory of Ande Sri, the breath of the soil
Ande Sri’s poetry was never meant to remain confined to paper; it was destined to be lived, spoken, and embodied. He did not merely recite poems—he became them. For him, speech was not ordinary communication but sacred practice, a ritual of memory and healing. In remembering, he found solace, and in speaking, he transformed personal reflection into collective resonance.
Telangana’s oral poetic tradition is a living continuum, flowing across generations and embodying the struggles, aspirations, and spirit of its people. It continued with poet-singers like Bandi Yadagiri, whose avant-garde ballad “Bandenaka Bandi Katti” challenged the Nizam’s rule, and Guda Anjaiah, whose folk songs became the pulse of the Telangana movement. It was carried forward by the electrifying presence of Gaddar, the balladeer who gave protest its rhythm and women their voice through his songs, and reached metaphysical depth with Dr Ande Sri, the bard who consecrated land into song and gifted the anthem “Jaya Jayahe Telangana.”
Today, this lineage continues through poets such as Goreti Venkanna, Yepuri Somanna, Mittapalli Surender, and many emerging voices, whose earthy lyrics transform pain into prayer and resistance into rhythm, turning the soil itself into syllables.
Some poets write poetry with ink, while others composed songs with the very essence of their breath. Dr. Ande Sri belonged to the latter category by embodying poetry as existence itself. His work transcended the page, arising from the heartbeat of the region’s villages, the turbulence of his life, and the quietude of recollection.
Born in poverty in Rebarti village, abandoned as an infant, and detached from caste identity, he lived as a seeker of truth. Despite lacking formal education, he became a mystic of the common people, weaving profound experiences into verse. In “Chuda Sakkani Talli Chukkallo Jabilli,” he evokes the moon as a metaphor for his absent mother, transforming memory into sacred lamentation.
His Telangana anthem “Jaya Jayahe Telangana” is not merely a song but a collective invocation of the Telangana people. It merges the sacred and the secular, the personal and the political, into a prayer for dignity and equity. Singing it, awakens the historical soul of 4.5 crore people, bound by shared aspiration of statehood. Ande Sri’s genius lies in transforming memory into rhythm and rhythm into language, making poetry the enduring voice of the soil itself.
Sacredness of the ordinary:
Ande Sri’s poetic genius comes from his ability to make everyday things into deeply sanctified objects. His verses don’t try to reach transcendence by running away from the world; instead, they find the holy in it. The songs he wrote show that the sacred is not far away but woven into the very fabric of our daily lives.
His “Maayamai Potunnadamma Manishannavadu” (The human is losing himself), he song talks about how people used to be connected to nature’s rhythms and the bonds of society, but are now separated by the never-ending pursuits of greed and hurry. The phrase “Manishannavadu maayamai potunnadu” is more than just a lament; it’s a deep thought on how disconnected we are from the sacred in our everyday lives. Another landmark composition is “Komma Chekkite Bommara”, which is a deep and heartfelt work that weaves together the essence of devotion with a rich tapestry of folk images. The melody gets the essence of a young soul suspended in the embrace of a tree branch. The song, in other words, demonstrates the profound interconnectedness of humankind and nature, revealing the inherent purity and joy that life can embody. In this image, the tree transcends its role as a mere plant; it embodies a cradle, a companion, and a sacred entity that inspires contemplation.
Ande Sri’s “Palle Neeku Vandanamulammo” (Salutations to the village) is a profound tribute to rural life, celebrating its wisdom, resilience, and quiet elegance. The cowherd, weaver, widow, and child embody dignity and purpose, reminding us that ordinary lives hold extraordinary meaning. For him, the soil itself calls for inquiry into the soul’s depths. To mourn a tree is to affirm the truth. His poetry dissolves binaries, presenting existence as a unified whole where breath, sorrow, and divinity converge inseparably.
Orality and embodied wisdom:
Ande Sri’s poetry was never meant to remain confined to paper; it was destined to be lived, spoken, and embodied. His barefoot performances and spontaneous compositions revealed a profound understanding of poetry as a living force rather than a fixed text. He did not merely recite poems—he became them. For him, speech was not ordinary communication but sacred practice, a ritual of memory and healing. In remembering, he found solace, and in speaking, he transformed personal reflection into collective resonance.
In “Palle Neeku Vandanamulammo” (Salutations to the Village), he declares that the village is more than geography; it is a spirit, a living presence. The poet’s body becomes a vessel of reverence, his breath and movements inseparable from the soil beneath him. Identity and society intertwine in this vision, where voice itself depends on song, and existence finds fulfillment only in connection.
His oft-repeated words “Without a song, I cannot speak”—capture this essence of poetry as a way of being. In “Kaalam, Karavaalam”, he reflects on the ceaseless rhythms of life. Through images of food, travel, and motion, he portrays survival as a flowing stream. Folk rhythm merges with philosophy, turning ordinary struggles into timeless reflections. For him, poetry was the pulse of life itself.
His presence grows louder in his absence:
To pay tribute to Dr Ande Sri is to acknowledge that poetry, in his vision, was never a mere artistic pursuit but a way of being. His work embodied the existence of ordinary people, their endurance, and the heartbeat of the natural world. For him, “poetry was not simply metaphor or ornamentation; it was a profound representation of truth”. He transformed language into lived experience, engaging in a struggle for the allegiance of the people and emerging as their voice. His poetry revealed that nature itself possesses an intrinsic spirit, narrating its own chronicles of existence, cessation, and the trials interwoven with both.
His verse transcended conventional boundaries of poetic expression. It filled the silences of parapets, the forgotten remnants of the earth, and the quietude of dawn. The stillness before sunrise was his chosen companion, resonating with the essence of his being. His presence lived in the whispers of dreams and the bold assertions of spirit, among barefoot bards and raw truths long overlooked by society. He did not simply write poetry; he became its embodiment, dissolving the distinction between art and life.
His work was more than auditory experience; it was a revelation of existence itself. Through his songs, he offered a collective transformation of perspective, reminding listeners that the sacred is not hidden but intricately woven into speech, memory, and the understated grace of daily life. Ande Sri’s poetry became both a mirror and a guide, illuminating the interconnectedness of humanity and nature. As his melodies continue to reverberate across Telangana and beyond, his legacy endures not as words alone, but as the living essence of truth, struggle, and spirit woven into verse.
(The writer is Assistant Professor-English Literature, EFLU)