Literature to mend fences

Hyderabad, November 19: నల్ల గుర్రపు నాదా (Nalla Gurrapu Naada), Telugu fiction by an avant-garde litterateur, is all set to hog the limelight in the context of the recent twin blasts in the city.

Ten thousand copies of the book have been bought by an NRI professional to be circulated among students below the age of 16 in an attempt to spread the message of peace and communal harmony.

Inspired by the restraint and resilience displayed by Hyderabadis in the aftermath of the twin bomb blasts, Srisail Reddy Punjugula, Operations Manager in Manchester Academy of English in the U.K., is coming up with a programme to save the qualities from slipping into oblivion.

Two-way programme

Named ‘Chak De Hyderabad’, it will be a two-directional programme to be carried out in association with ‘New Syllabus Literature’, a publishing agency run by the author of the book, Sauda alias P.Karunanidhi.

As part of the programme, about 30 schools from the districts of Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Khammam, Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad will be visited where copies of the book—Srisail’s favourite--will be distributed free of cost to teachers and the students. The second part of the programme comprises publishing of an anthology containing students’ versions of the blasts. “So far, the discourse of communal bigotry has been confined to the intellectual camps. My aim behind the distribution of the book is to bring it into public focus,” says Mr. Reddy.

The plot of ‘Nalla Gurrapu Naada’ seeks to debunk the notions of patriotism and accompanying communal fallacies. Published for the first time in 2003, the book had already sold 4,000 copies. Sauda’s books are seldom sold in bookshops due to their high price. Instead, he undertakes door-delivery to whoever orders for them. Mr. Sauda can be contacted on 92471 50243.

Courtesy: Siasat