Poems of Aduri Satyavathi Devi
Poem-12
Then -Afterwards
Telugu Original: Aduri Satyavathi Devi
English Translation: CLL Jayaprada
Then
this sorrow all at once
wetting and chasing my heart like a spring
fixed me in a net
otherwise
with dew drops fallen amidst leaves
with a heart playfully bathing in a pond
with tender glances caught
in the softness of butterflies’ wings
with emotional intensity of beautiful buds
with also the entwining tinsel dreams
Would it have been possible to read
the turmoil of life’s tidal waves?
Afterwards
since this sorrow threw a net
and stayed me thus
otherwise
In me who had gone with thirst
around the springs of tiny words
and sleepily slipped in childish games
fistfuls of hours to the ground
would the dove of wisdom
dormant in hundreds of crores
of practicing musical strings
have soared high this way?
Would the ancient round flower
hidden under the soft, thick leather beauty
have blossomed in brilliance this way?
Sorrow…An urn of mercy!
While stealing away
What beautiful unreachable world you might gift me?
*****
Telugu Original : ‘Appudu..Aa..Tharvatha’
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.