(Singers at Nelakondapalli)
I was surprised to see our college mate, Talluri (Komanduri) Sasikala reciting a classical song. It was a keerthana written by saint and staunch devotee Ramadasa and the title goes "anthaa Rama mayam, ee jagamanthaa Raama mayam". She was more than a college mate. I always consider her as my elder sister and of course, there is a remote relationship. We were discussing novels and poetry in those days. And there were the days of no WhatsApp, Facebook, or any social media. Ample time was there to go through books and serious discussions with friends. We have cherished every novel of Yandamuri, Malladi, and others, and serialized parts of novels have attracted our attention. Writing and reading came into my life. Our college library and branch library quested my thirst in those days.
It is almost 40 years since heard her singing in a group concert. Thanks for WhatsApp for that, by which I could hear and see the happening. Flooded thoughts, all of a sudden, transported me to the bygone years. Soon after passing my tenth class, due to some reasons, my life was destined to get shifted to a small town. Yes, it was neither a village nor a town. Cherla by name. There I met some life-lasting friends and their impact or influence always on my entire life. The same could have happened to them too. Compared to present days, the environment was healthy with green fields and many people liked fine arts. For drama competitions, budding and veteran artists were used to go to different places.
Two associations kept conducting drama competitions at Cherla. Many famous writers like L.B.Sriram and Tanikella Bharani etc., have participated in it, and in later stages, they transitioned as popular film actors. Not only that, several artists sprouted from here in different fine arts. Those were the days when everybody had dreams of excelling in the future. Sasi Sis had got married off and shifted to Hyderabad. She was blessed with a beautiful life. Decades went by as if it's happened in a film. The other day, a WhatsApp update received from, beamed the singer Sasi , performing in a group recital at Nelakondapalli, where the saint Ramadasa was born.
And on my queries, she told me that she had joined the music classes about her elder sister. Sounds like it was a great decision to pursue an artistic form after fulfilling family responsibilities. Happened to see the different streets when I recently went to Cherla, a sea change is there. New buildings were constructed in the spacious green fields and hardly a face came across which was known earlier. The local branch library is now it's a big building with adequate equipment and job seekers are reading for upcoming exams. Here, I have read the books of Sarat, Tagore, and Chalam for the first time. Sighed with recalling good old days.
Written for #WRITEAPAGEADAY Words : 482
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