Poems of Aduri Satyavathi Devi
Poem-25
The Same Way — Again
Telugu Original: Aduri Satyavathi Devi
English Translation: NS Murthy
Making each night a moonbeam-bud
I yearn to adorn the flower vase on the table.
Taking the advice of the friendly air
To try to incense the room
With glittering fantasies of youthful passions,
But falter.
To welcome you with oodles of pleasurable thoughts
I hurry to garland with my broke, lifelong desires
And flutter like a wind-awaiting leaf
To offer the bouquet of friendship
For you to enjoy it a lifetime.
After having done all this,
I would be besieged with doubt
If the whole endeavour would dwarf
Before the lovely cascade of smiles
You are going to present me in admiration.
Moonshine continues to melt and evaporate.
Like infants, dreams doze off over shoulders in fatigue
Eyes close in dark dejection
As lightning subsides under their lashes.
Loneliness bites off like banishment to an alien island.
At that moment, you arrive
With one step forward and three steps backwards,
Reeking foul, a half-beast, losing yourself completely.
You siege me with insipid fever.
The string breaks—and so does the dream.
The plumed tides of passion break lifeless and hang on the walls.
Portraying generations of defeat
Either for necessity like rotor blade
Or, for continuance of a meaningless bond
This shameless rote life goes on gyrating.
I dress it up
With several fine embellishments and struggle to stay afloat
Under the weight of counterfeit values.
*****
Telugu Original :‘Mallee Ilaage’
Aduri Satyavathi Devi was born in Guntur in the year 1948 and settled in Visakhapatnam after marriage in 1969. She began her literary career as a lyricist at the age of 13. She wrote a variety of lyrics numbering about 300 — light, classical, devotional, patriotic, children’s and others. More than 50 songs of Satyavati Devi were broadcast over All India Radio. Eventually she made forays into various other literary genres like Poetry, Short story, Essay, Radio Play, Musical Feature, Books, Film reviews, Forewords etc..She created a substantial corpus of poetry with more than 180 poems included in 4 anthologies of poetry. She received accolades from readers, scholars, critics and litterateurs for her sensitive rendering of poems. She participated in many Poetry Meets, Festivals conducted by All India Radio, Doordarshan and the Sahitya Akademi. She was widely translated into English and Hindi. Some of the translations appeared in renowned journals like Indian Literature (English), and Samakaaleen Bharateeya Saahitya (Hindi).
She published her first volume of lyrics Vennello Venugaanam in 1988. Her first volume of poetry Rekkamudavani Raagam was published in 1992 followed by Jalapaata Geetam in 1997 and Veyirangula Velugu Raagam in 2006. Hindi translation of Rekkamudavani Raagam came out in 2008 as “Pankh an Modnevaalaa Raag” and a miscellany of various facets of her literary endeavour Vennela Paarijaataalu was published posthumously in Dec 2008. She received many prizes and awards for her literary pursuits and accomplishments like STVD Kalasamithi Award for Rekkamudavani Raagam in 1993, and Telugu University’s “Pratibha Puraskaram” as “Best Poet” in 1994, “Krishna Sastry Award” from Andhra Lalita Kala Samithi (Secunderabad) in 1998, UNESCO Literary Award in 2000, and “Ramavruksha Benipuri Janma Sataabdi Sammaan” from Jaimuni Academy (Panipat) in 2002. An English translation of her poem, “Veyirekkala Pavuram” (Myriad Winged Bird) has been included in the syllabus of English texts in the poetry section of Degree year students by the Common Core syllabus Committee in AP from 2008.