I did my B.Tech. at IIT,
Madras and masters at Rice University, Houston, USA. I am a pretty good astrologer (I have
an astrology homepage
too!) and a music composition enthusiast. Since my childhood, I have been a
jack-of-all-but-master-of-none. As a kid, I won several prizes at local and state levels
in elocution, debate, essay writing, chess, painting and poetry competitions. Apart from
standing state first in Intermediate examinations in AP, a few of my academic distinctions
are: I passed "Sanskrita Bhasha Kovida" (equivalent to BA in Sanskrit) at an age
of 11 and an examination equivalent to BA in Hindi at 12. Poetry (in Telugu and Sanskrit)
and music composition are my main hobbies now, apart from, of course, astrology, which is
much more than a hobby now.
Want to know how I got into poetry?!
I was born in a family of poets and scholars. My
father was a lecturer in Telugu and a brilliant scholar. My grandfather was a poet with
some achievements. It was, however, two of his cousins who were more well-known - (1)
Pingali Nagendra Rao, who wrote the story, songs and dialogue in many of Vijaya
Productions' films (including the songs in Mayabazar, Patalabhairavi, Gundamma katha,
Missamma, Appu chesi pappu koodu, Jagadeka veeruni katha etc), and, (2) Prof.
Pingali Lakshmikantham, of well-known Pingali-Katuri kavis.
With poetry in my blood, I started writing poems at
a young age. I was influenced by poets of various styles, from classical poets like
Tikkana, Potana, Srinatha and Viswanatha, to modern geya kavis like Gurazada and Sri Sri,
to vachana kavis like Kundurti, SriSri and Devarakonda, to digambara kavis like
Cherabandaraju and Nagnamuni. Unlike some others, I never tried to compare and judge
different styles. Every style has its own strengths, charms and positive effects. So I
have penned kavitas in a variety of styles.
I used to write poetry as a kid and as a teenager,
in Telugu and Sanskrit, but this activity slowed down once I went to IIT, Madras for
B.Tech. And, it died down once I came to USA. I occasionally write poems now.
On this page, I wanted to share with my Telugu
friends a few Telugu poems written by me. You will find here some poems written in
classical style (using chhandassu), some singable (geya) kavitas, some prose-like
(vachana) kavitas and even some mini kavitas. There are poems of various styles and the
variety will only increase with time...
As time passes by, I will add any new poems I may
write. I will also add some short-stories written by me. So visit again!!
For now, please read these kavitas and drop me a mail if you like them!!! Thanks for visiting
this page!
© 1998
Narasimha P.V.R. Rao (pvr@charter.net)