Poets and artists should voice against the fascist rule in country: Kavitha

Hyderabad: Stating that a fascist regime is ruling the country, BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha urged the poets and artists to speak out against this on Sunday.

Kavitha visited the 35th National Book Fair at NTR Stadium on Sunday and had an interaction with poet Goreti Venkanna on his book 'Vallanki Thalam'. She said that the Chenchus have described the Nallamala Forest and its surrounding nature in a wonderful manner. She added that she has a special connection with the forest and alleged that the Central government had tried to mine uranium and diamonds there.

Kavitha recalled that she and a few others had protested on a large scale during the Telangana movement and fought until the mining lease was cancelled. She mentioned that after the formation of Telangana, the State government had passed a resolution stating that there will be no question of mining in the Nallamala Forest. She also said that the Telangana's culture is such that it will not be quiet if the forests are destroyed.

She said that she had read poems in the Vallanki Thalam quite a few times and added that there were references to many fruits in the book. "During the Telangana movement, there was a discussion on dialect and it was informed that people in different parts of the State speak in different language dialects. Gorati Venkanna paid special attention to the sub-dialects of those dialects and his writing style is astounding," she said.

Recalling that the first Sahitya Akademi Award in the country was given to Suravaram Pratapa Reddy in 1955, she said that the trend was continuing with Gorati Venkanna today. "Apart from Suravaram, C Narayana Reddy, Dasarathi, N Gopi, Chekuri Rama Rao, Ampasaiah Naveen, Samala Sadashiva, Katyayani Vidmaye, Nikhileshwar and Goreti Venkanna have received the Sahitya Akademi awards and it is clear that Telangana has a legacy of such great men and great poets," she said, adding that the Telugu language is called as the Italian of East because we have preserved the words that germinated from work and effort. She appreciated Vallanki Thalam, stating that he once again has introduced the sweetness and softness of Telugu.