Poems of Aduri Satyavathi Devi
Poem-21
Moonlit Buds of Poetry
Telugu Original: Aduri Satyavathi Devi
English Translation: Shyamala Kallury
Moonlit buds of poetry
Float on the streams of Time in colourful boats
Hearts aflame with poetic delight and
Questing eyes bind their lives with moonlit
Buds of poetry, emitting dreams.
Keep the door ajar,
Let one divine raga enter and
The fragrant scented silky threads move
Ever so slightly, before you invite the moonlit
Buds of poetry in
Let there be a spring dance, grace incarnate, inside you.
Get drenched in that fragrance
And let there be a cloud swing
Swinging your imagination to and fro.
Hold them close to your heart, the moonlit buds of poetry.
Once you learn
From whose inner beauty these buds have emerged
Whose life’s dreams have consummated and emerged
Out of whose meditative mind have they emerged
As a visual script, spreading far and wide
Whose ruined five-hued nature manifested into
Memories of bitter tears
Once you know, you will learn afresh!
Only when you dip yourself into the confluence of
These rivers, can you chart out an inner path.
Pick the word jasmines
Shape life like a delightful arch of garlands
You will then find the image inside the bud large and wide!
*****
Telugu Original :‘Vennela Moggalu’
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.