Narla is power to reckon with in Telugu journalism. During the decade and more after Independence, perhaps no single individual has played as a significant a role as he in the evolution of political ideas and the education of the Andhra masses. Even in the years before political freedom, there had been few others with such a marked influence on public opinion with the possible exception of the late Mutnuri Krishna Rao (of The Krishna Patrika). He has not been content merely to reflect public opinion, where it could be gauged without difficulty, but has striven to create it where it is lacking and shape it after is heart’s desire’ where it happens to be inchoate. He has attained popularity without playing to the gallery and achieved power and prestige that owe little to extraneous forces and adventitious factors. And all this –against heavy odds, and in none too propitious circumstances.
A journalist is sometimes described as a gentleman in a hurry and he gives the impression of being a half-brother to the politician. Narla has nothing in common wit the typical journalist of popular imagination the hustling gate-crasher, the flashy go-getter and the dashing dare-devil. Rather phlegmatic by temperament, e as no easy enthusiasms and does not believe in making quick friendships by the breezy, hail-fellow- well-met’ methods of ‘contact men’. Laconic in speech, he is not eager to hold forth on all things under te sun with the jaunty air of professional omniscience that comes natural to many who want to impress. He is willing to listen and learn, to wait and watch. Not for him the trappings of genius and the outer hahiliments of eminence. Greatness can be quiet and humble. No reader of the Andhra Prabha) which he has built up during the last two decades or so, ever since its very inception) can fail to realize that here is an editor who knows is own mind as well as the reader’s. Te editorial columns and the news columns bear touch of one with personality that cannot be hidden even in the mammoth set-up of chain newspapers. Narla has made of the daily newspapers from an indifferent sheet to be read, like part of an ancient book, at one’s leisure after the day’s work, to something essential and vital to be discussed and absorbed as an indispensable element in our daily life. If he had not actually started the practice of using simple, spoken Telugu in the leaders (the pioneer’s credit probably goes to Thapi Dharma Rao), he has definitely helped to establish the vogue beyond the realm of controversy. In the presentation of news, he has effectively adopted the modern technique and methods of the English news papers. The art of page make-up was virtually unknown to the Telugu newspapers, which were just trying to serve up the news anyhow, before Narla came on the scene and transformed the face of the newspapers with his double-column headings and ‘Intros’ and banner headlines, spicy box items and smart picture captions. (After doing the day’s leader, he still continues, everyday to look after the make-up of all the pages standing at the stone for two hours or more at a stretch). Bred in the best traditions of the British Press, he has succeeded in making his newspaper popular without being cheap, bright without being yellow, and effective without being sensational.
It has hardly an accident that Narla had made a mark in journalism, as he did, though he is favoured by luck. He has allied a sense of mission to a keen awareness of the hard realities of relentless profession that has also to sub serve the interests of big industry the while it strives to work for the cause of the masses. Born with no silver spoon in his mouth. Narla had none of the advantages, in early life, of patrimony or patronage. He did not have the average means even for going through the college and obtaining a degree. He did, no doubt, secure his degree, maintaining himself in college partly on his own earnings through part-time work in Krishna Patrika and regular contributions to the English and Telugu Press. The thirst for knowledge as always been there and urge for expression. Quite early in his college days, he did caught the itch for writing. And the patriotic fervor (or fever, as it is more appropriately termed, in one’s adolescence) gave an edge to his youthful exuberance and often landed him in trouble because of his terrorist associations. Narla felt the call to be journalist. Nothing gave him greater pleasure than to call himself “V. R. Narla, B.A., Journalist” in those days. But journalism was not yet a profession. It might have been a mission with some; but generally speaking, it was a refuge for rejects from other professions – briefless lawyers, unsuccessful politicians, those who have missed the first or second class necessary to be college lecturers, and the like. There could be no training facilities worth the name in a profession in such a state. But, Narla managed to make the best use of the resources available to him. It struck him to get hold of old English news papers used for packing in grocer’s shops and get from them enough material for political comments on world affairs in the local weekly. While still in Masulipatnam, he has had a good grounding in Indian politics and a fair grasp of international affairs, as was evident from his freelancing efforts.
It was in Madras that Narla’s regular career as a journalist began in the early thirties. He owes much, in his early attempts to enter journalism, to the kindness and help of the late S.G.Acharya (of Chitragupta and the Prajabadhu), whom he remembers with gratitude. He had varying spells of work on a number of English and Telugu newspapers in Madras including the Swarajya and gained all-round experience. It is curious to recall that Narla had, in those youthful years, a preference for writing in
English, being less at one in Telugu and was once actually on the point of leaving for Bangalore to work on an English weekly. The Andhra Prabha was started on August 15, 1938, and Khasa Subba Rao was the first editor, succeeded soon by the late Nyapati Narayanamurti. Narla joined, its stiff as news editor and attracted attention by dint of his devotion to duty, added to a natural flair for newspaper work. His succession to editorship in the early forties was a logical culmination of his strenuous training and purposeful endeavour. He did not take the editorship as another step in the ladder of promotion. It was the spirit of a trust that he took it up. And there has been no question of public interest, on which he has not brought to bear an original approach during the last seventeen or eighteen years of his tenure as editor. Nor has there been any occasion of anxiety to the nation in which he hesitated to take the plunge and rally the Andhra Public to play its proper role.
Narla spurns to easier course in suggestions solutions to the burning problems agitating the country in general and the Andhras in particular. He is not afraid to take an unpopular stand in the controversies of the hour, if he thinks it best in the larger interests of his people and everyone in the long run. On the separation of the Andhra State, for instance, he did not want the city to be a stumbling block in the way of attaining the State. His words, like C.R.’s formula on Pakistan, were, at that time, none too palatable to many in the heat of the moment, partly due to sentiment and association, but his solution, though it involved the abandonment of just rights, proved to be the more realistic, and the only practical one. He has an open mind and is ready for compromises that do not militate against first principles, whether it be on the location of the new capital, the merger of Andhra and Telengana or the sharing of river waters between Andhra and Madras. He fought against the Krishna Pennar project proposal tooth and nail until it was dropped and campaigned for the Narndikonda Project which now goes under the name of Nagarjunasagar. But he was not against the sharing of the surplus water of the Godavari with Madras State. The needs of the ryots of Kirshna and Guntur districts should come first in harnessing the water of the Krishna, he argued. He is always prepared to decide every question on its merit.
While he is not over-fond of indulging in controversies, he never fights shy of them when it is necessary to give the lead and take sides in the process. On the issue of the leadership of the Legislature Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh, his attitude was unequivocal and the vigorous leaders and effective cartoons of his paper, which were talked of every where in Ahdhra, were fully justified by later events. He has his finger on the pulse or his readers. On the issue of official language, he struck the golden mean between the out-and-out enthusiast for the indefinite continuance of English and the Hindi Extremists who would like to give short shrift to English. He is quite aware of the value of English as the window that opens out to the world at large and as the fountain-head of modern knowledge, as he had possibly read and purchased more English books than many editors of English newspapers. But this has, in no way, dimmed his love for the mother-tongue or deflected him from the objective of enriching Telugu idioms with the wealth of new ideas and thought patterns as well as modes of expression from English. Of course, he always takes care to see that the new found gains are not at the expense of the genius of the Telugu language and its basic traditions rooted in the life of the people. The service done by the Andhra Pradesh in collecting lakhs of rupees for rushing relief to those hit by the Godavari floods and the famine-stricken in Rayalaseema, by donations through the paper and through dramas by well-known film stars, is still fresh in people’s memory. The leaders of Narla in this connection, written with great feeling, rarely failed to strike a responsive chord in the readers’ hearts. They were like personal appeals to every man to do his bit and none stinted to contribute his mite. Though Andhra affairs are naturally the first concern of the editor of Telugu daily, Narla never stricts his study to questions of local, regional or even national importance. He has had a particular interest in foreign affairs and is monthly articles in the Andhra Jyothi were marked by clarity of analysis and simplicity of expression. Party politics cannot be ignored by any journalist but Narl’s accent is on principles rather than on personalities. He has refused to burn incense at idols, political or religious, secular or sacred. He is a worshipper at the shine of Democracy and has left no stone unturned in the uphill task of stabilizing the democratic forces in Andhra against the onslaught of totalitarian hordes masquerading as paragons of Constitutional virtue, but ever on the prowl under the cover of dark and itching to seize power by hook or by crook. For authoritative pronouncements on cabinet responsibility parliamentary government and other issues of democracy he has imbedded the board principles enunciated by Laski, Bryce and Dicey and would often refer to May’s ‘Parliamentary Practice’. When necessary.
The newspaper might be the Bible of to-day and the wastepaper of the day after, but no editor who wants to educate his masters can always be absorbed entirely by passing phases and transient problems. He has to go a little deeper as Narla has often done in his exposition of the duties of the citizen awakened to freedom and his conception of Indian culture. He is for a judicious admixture of the old and the new. He peeps at old customs and traditions through the microscope of new values. Rejecting all that has outlived its utility, he wants the rest to befitted to the requirements of modern times. He is for the preservation and promotion of what is worth preserving in our culture but he does not agree that it could be done only by the renovation of temples and the compulsory study of Sanskrit in schools.
Narla has come up the hard way. He had met with many disappointments in his early life, but that has not warped his soul and distorted his outlook. He has had more than his share of hardship and suffering, but that has not soured his spirit. He has managed to keep cool head and an equable temper in the midst of the bustle and hurry of modern life and the noise and bustle of a daily newspaper. He has acquired the perspective that gives poise to his personality. He is a picture of power in repose and strength in reserve. He has done much already, but his golden age is not in the past.
- D. Anjaneyulu (From Half Way 1958)
SIDELIGHT ON NARLA
EDITOR NARLA
Vasan (Left) & Khasa Subba Rao (Right)
I have known Sri Narla from the time his career as a journalist began. For a brief interlude he worked as a reporter on Sri Prakasam’s English daily Swarajya. He real chance came when he was appointed Editor of Andhra Prabha. This was nearly 17 years age. He bought to the editorship of Andhra Prabha from his reporting days a vivid consciousness of the importance of direct contact with people and of first-hand assimilation of the outstanding issues affecting their interests and welfare. He was no more desk editor. Realizing that faithful portrayal of contemporary events was the real work of a newspaper, he sought knowledge and information in direct investigation. It redeemed him professionally from the theoretical desk academics which mars so large a mass of our news paper work, investing it with unreality and artificially. He achieved genuineness by actual contact with the affairs of the workaday world. It was heightened by two of his distinctive attributes, intellectual and moral probity, and perseverance in the spirit of the workman throught all phases of responsibility. Narla is a devil for work because he had the good luck of stumbling on life’s great secret of realizing joy and happiness in hard work. He acquired pride of vocation through joy of work. It enabled him to cost away all tempting pressures as unthinkable defections from duty. Indian language-papers have been thrown into, experience of a somewhat unusual kind for which the old traditional idiom and phraseology were not always sufficient of adequate. In this dilemma many practicing journalists resorted to literal translations of English terms. The language they evolved became in consequence anemic and stilted. Narla broke away from this easy path of verbal equations and took great pains to discover for each new idea comprised in modern experience an effective descriptive term suitable to the genius of the language. The credit for having developed Telugu into an efficient instruments equal to all the emergencies of this atomic age under the spur of daily necessity in the performance of newspaper work, belongs to Narla, more perhaps than to any of his journalistic compeers. In the profession of journalism the reward are uncertain, the hazards are in plenty, the stain and the wear and tear of body and mind terrific, life is precarious, and nothing is safe and settled. Narla had his full share of the difficulties and nightmares of this grueling profession in his early days. He entered it without any influence to back him. By dint of hard work and sustained integrity of character, he has made himself the most powerful influence in the Telugu-speaking world.
Because of the delight he found in his vocation, Narla has been able to turn it into a stepping stone for universality of understanding. Unhappy persons cannot spread the joy of life among their fellowmen. Sorrow is perhaps Providence’s way of enriching one’s sympathies, but those who lapse into moroseness cannot go far along that way. The professional success which as come to Narla redeemed him from the engrossing jealousies of the defeated, and by his own introspection he has learned to reject the trivial purposes that loom so large in the vision of so many aspirants to literary fame. An active life lived in the centre of affairs of historical significance has enabled him to look the truth of things in the face, and a cheerful unspoilt spirit has served to endow his comprehension of reality with good nature, purposefulness and balance. These virtues make is plays and other literary work eminently worthwhile.
With unremitting toil and honesty of purpose Narla has won his way to the affections of people of all walks and stations in Andhra Pradesh. His life is an epitome of hard work well done, and in a way it reveals, for all to see, to what pinnacle of glory devotion to duty in the untrammeled path of journalism can take a man. In politics, unlike in journalism, the fallacies of the leaders bind the practitioner, and the scope for individuality of expression is limited. It remains to be seen to what extent any journalist, unless he is himself the top leader of a political organization, can conform to the steam-roller discipline of party politics without surrendering what is most precious in the function of the press. I hope therefore that in the days to come the lure of parliamentary politics will not divert Narla from a vocation of such high purpose where he is so much at home and has given such a good account of himself already.
- by Khasa Subba Rao (From Half way 1958)
POET, ESSAYIST AND PLAYWRITER
- Kolavennu Ramakotiswara Rao
Narla is a ‘double first’, eminent as a journalist and as a litterateur. Journalism, in its higher levels, shades off into literature. A considerable portion of the literature in any modern language consists of poems, stories, essays and plays which had appeared originally in the leading periodicals or in the literary supplements to the dailies. Narla has helped the growth of Telugu literature through journalism and has himself emerged as a writer of the front rank.
Being a lover of life, the ‘many coloured dome’, and a keen observer of men and things, Narla displays in the writings a rare comprehension of the mental attitudes and the emotional reactions of people in every walk of life. His personal attitude is that of a modern intellectual convinced that progress consists in a perpetual forward movement and that old-time tradition is usually a deadweight making for stagnation. This outlook is reflected in every line of his writing.
Of his published works, Mataa Manthee and Pitcha Paattee and collections of occasional essays in which Narla resorts to the light, convensional manner for the expression of his views on matters which interest him. And is interests are varied. They range from the gathering of books to the smoking of cigarettes, from the study of the classics to a dissertation on beards. There is humour, vivacity and sarcasm in these essays, allied to a comprehension of the inwardness of a situation. And all through, there is a sunny smile of the inwardness of a situation. And all through, there is a sunny smile for the writer can laugh at himself as at others. In recalling incidents or relating anecdotes, Narla impresses us by his powerful memory. One passage, in particular where he describes a rainy evening on the Madras beach, rises to height of eloquence. The loneliness and the agony of an aspiring young man, fighting an apparently unending battle, are here conveyed to us, along, with the glory of comradeship with the ocean. A delightful picture of felicity and contentment is given in the sketch of the child who interrupts his father with “impossible” queries and the other child which crawls up to him to be fondled. The quiet Sunday morning intended for writing is ruined, but here is the joy of fulfillment.
Narlavaari Maata and Jagannatakam are volumes of verse which introduce Narla, the poet. Narla is an admirer of the medieval Telugu poet, Vemana, whose aphoristic verse has become part of the common speech of Andhra. Vemana was a philosopher who read the book of life, and with his penetrating vision pierced its inmost secrets. Like Vemana, Narla employs the medium of the simple four-line verse with a refrain at the end: “True is the word of Narla.” Everyday incidents which indicate the fret and the fever of life, and the wider movements in the economic and political sphere, form the subject matter of these words of wisdom. The first two lines sum up a situation, and the third is a reflection on it, rapier-like in its quality. Speaking of elections which play so important a part in our life he says, “If you elect a buffalo how will it till the land?” Or again, wit regard to Socialism and brotherhood he says, “How can these exist alongside of communal feelings, “for” can a calf subsist with a tiger?” But these verses are not all of equal quality and sometimes the politician over-shadows the artist :
“In a changing human society
The mean fellow who is not a Socialist
Is just a blot on humanity.”
About Communism he says:-
“Class-war is not the only road to Heaven
Nor is progress achieved only through bloodshed
And the great Marx is not the only Pathfinder.”
While the qualities of intellectual perception and pithy expression mark this volume, Jagannatakam (Drama of Life) reveals Narla as a poet gifted with emotion and imagination. The language takes on a real poetic quality and through is songs and poems, in diverse metres Narla wins a place among the important poets of the day. The odes to the “Ocean King” and to “The Spirit of Poesy” and the little piece “Mooka Bhasha” (Silent Eloquence) have moved me deeply, through their exquisite phrasing, their haunting melody and their rich emotion. In the “Cloud-Maiden” he strikes a new note:
“If the cloud-maiden melts and drops down to earth what matters! Had not the young Moon adorned her brow and had not the stars been like jasmine in her hair?”
The essays and poems are of high quality but it is Narla the play wright, who appeals to me most. Kotta Gadda – a collection of sixteen one-act plays – is his most distinctive contribution to recent Telugu literature. Here are combined sympathy and imagination, observation and apt expression. Narla’s sense of humour is here displayed to the best advantage. Through many years of travel study, Narla has gained intimacy with the modes of thought and the nuances of language of the common people in the villages, and of the sophisticated city-dwellers. He has the true play wright’s Prospero-like serenity of outlook, sharing men’s joys and sorrows without being submerged in them. In construction of plot, unfoldment of character and the finale these plays mark a new phase in the history of the Telugu play. Narla’s study of English and continental drama is extensive and he owes to that study some of the technique of his plays.
Katta Gudda, the title piece, mirrors the conflict between the points of view of the older and the younger generation. The father naturally loves the old soil and would prefer to struggle on in the dear surroundings of boyhood and youth. But the son wishes to face life in another village and to better the prospects of the family. The father who is adamant is finally overcome by is love for the grandson, from whom he cannot bear to be separated. So he too moves on to “new ground”. This is an intensely human situation and the play wright has brought out all its possibilities. ‘The Next Harvest’, ‘Unanimity of Opinion’, and ‘The Bridge’ are among the best in this collection. Narla’s contribution to Telugu literature is of great value. Sincerity, sanity and a refined taste are its dominant qualities. Behind them all is restrained emotion which expresses itself in love of Beauty. That Beauty is always around us; only, the eye must perceive it and the heart adore it !
- by K. Ramakotiswara Rao (From Half way 1958)
NARLA AND HIS PLACE IN TELUGU LITERATURE
- Thapi Dharma Rao (Tatagi)
It is title difficult for me to think of my friend and former colleague, Sri Narla, as a man who has completed fifty years of life. Whenever I think of him, I still him more or less as on the day he joined me as my news editor in Janavani, with his nose for news, his gift for apt head lines, his flair for page make-up, his readiness to learn from everything and everybody and his zest for life. As his chief for about a year, way back in 1936, I can speak at length about him as a journalist, but that aspect of his career perhaps needs no elaboration from me after his long, unbroken tenure of nearly seventeen years as an editor. I would, therefore, like to confine myself to Narla as a man of letters.
Though his literary output is not extensive, Narla has already secured for himself an hounoured place among the makers of modern Telugu literature.
His Narlavaari-Maata is pleasantly reminiscent of our beloved Vemana though with this difference: While Veman gave his sage verdicts on society and its problems as they existed in his day, Narla as portrayed in his own inimitable way the problems facing the present-day society and thus comes much nearer the hearts of the modern readers. There is yet another difference; Vemana oftentimes show a partisan spirit and puts a sting into his words; Narla, on the other hand, generally takes a philosophic view and speaks out his mind with the broad smile of an onlooker. With its mastery of idiom, its command and even flow of style and its sanity of observation, Narlavaari-Maata ranks high in literary merit and is sure to remain for long a cherished book of the Andhras.
In his collections of playlet, Kotta Gadda we see Narla with ever vigilant eyes and a heart keen on registering the life touches of the men and matters he encounters. Consequently, we have in the collection of one-act plays a true picture of the modern Andhra village with its joys and sorrows, its aims and aspirations, its struggles and triumphs. Narla’s versatility has herein evolved its own techniques and handled the various themes in masterly and progressive manner. No wonder, the playlets have capture the imagination of our young writers, some of whom are adopting them as their models. The two collections of Narla’s short essays display. At once his wide knowledge of Western literatures and his keen observation of our life and society. Herein he has supplied a long-felt want in our literature i.e., the essay on the lines of Lamb and Goldsmith.
Through his books Narla has given the lie direct to those who cry hoarse from the house-tops that Telugu journalism is proving a bad influence on the Telugu language. Though Narla is first and foremost a journalist, his books are no mean contribution to modern Telugu literature, a contribution for which the Andhras will ever remain grateful to him. It is hoped by me and by his numerous other friends and well-wishers that Narla continues his work in “fresh woods and pastures new” and further enriches our literature with his masterpieces.
- by Thapi Dharma Rao (From Half way 1958)
NARLA – A UNIQUE JOURNALIST
- KOKA SUBBA RAO
NARLA and I have trod apparently two different paths-I, the law and he, the journalism. Though appear to be different, they converge on the same ideal, viz., the up liftment of the society. They are the two potent and constructive instruments of the rule of law. Rule of law in democratic instruments of the rule of law. Rule of law in democratic countries has a rich content; it preserves freedom, controls autocratic power, and is a powerful instrument of socio-economic justice. Indeed, journalism has a larger share and responsibility in this regard. For, in a democracy, the ultimate sanction lies in public opinion and public opinion in its turn is shaped by constructive journalism. The appalling poverty of the country in all its different manifestations in mind, body, and spirit may to some extent be traced to public inertia. The main functions of the press, as I apprehend, are : (1) presentation of facts; (ii) fair criticism; (iii) reflecting public opinion; and (iv) educating and shaping public opinion.
Autocratic power considers press as its enemy number one, and it seeks to forge shackles on it directly through laws and indirectly through inducement by way of advertisements, subsidies, etc. Not and less insidious one is that of the business magnate, who control and finances the paper, for the paper for him is only a means to earn profit. The editor is expected to play his tune. To discharge the difficult and delicate function of and an editor in such adverse circumstances requires a man of high caliber and moral favour.
By equipment and experience NARLA has filled the role of an ideal editor. He is a voracious reader and there is no branch of relevant knowledge that is beyond his reach. He is equally well versed in English and Telugu literature, inn foreign and Indian philosophy, in history and political and social sciences. He has practical experience of Indian life and society, for he has passed from village to city, from poverty to prosperity, and from failure to success. He reached his ideal through hard work and dedication.
He has a style of his own in Telugu which is at the same time precise, original, and forceful. E coined scientific Telugu terminology to suit the dynamic needs of the society. He has freely drawn from the reservoir of erudition and experience and presented to the public all the causes he espoused in his own inimitable manner.
NARLA is a man of courage of conviction. Is moral courage is expressed in terms of objectivity. It is not concerned wit personalities but with the quality of their actions. For bad acts do not cease to be bad if done by “big” men. His paper effectively and at times even vehemently attacked corruption in its comprehensive sense in all its varied ramifications.
An editor may project his personality through his editorial or e may be polished or a finished conduit pipe of the manager’s ideas. NARLA’S conception of editor is of the first kind. His journalistic excellence in Telugu reached the highest water mark in his editorship of Andhra Prabha. Through the journal, NARLA played an important role in shaping public opinion in Andhra Pradesh. It was freely said that he had to resign the editorship of Andhra Prabha as he could not conform to the second type.
Thereafter, NARLA promoted Andhra Jyoti and is now running it in terms of his idealism. It does not live on governmental or proprietorial patronage. It expresses opinion objectively on men and matters; it seeks to educate public opinion on different aspects of human and state activity; it stoically bears the burden of integrity; it showed the way to others that there was no inherent conflict between success and integrity and that both could stand together.
NARLA is also literacy figure of high repute. I am not a scholar to evaluate his contribution to the Telugu literature. But I was accustomed to judge on expert evidence. Experts agree on his literary expertise. His sixteen one-act plays reveal his skill in characterization and dramatic construction; his collection of lyrics styled Jagannatakam are profound in thought, original in conception, and reflect conflicting emotions; Narlavari Mata, a book of aphorism, projects his condensed views on men and matters in the tradition of Vemana’s proverbs; his collection of essays, inspired by his deep knowledge of similar English literary forms, is his original contribution to the Telugu literature.
The Sahitya Akademi has rightly entrusted to NARLA the difficult and scholarly task of writing in English the biography of Veeresalingam. As expected, NARLA has brought out an admirable but concise biography of that “great social reformer and the father of modern Andhra.” I hope and trust that the best in him is still to come.
Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Indian Parliament, is best suited for NARLA’S temperament. His political, social, and literary background will certainly find expression and command respect in the cultivated debates of the Upper House. In the name of public good, freedom of press is now in peril. A more robust champion of the press cannot be found in and outside the council than NARLA. The necessary condition of the survival of free press is an united front of the press itself. NARLA will be its focal point.
NARLA is a gentleman and a loyal friend. The existence of men like NARLA in public life is a guarantee that all is not lost and there is still future for democracy in our country.
- by KOKA SUBBA RAO, Former Chief Justice of India
NARLA –UNIVERSAL PERSON
Justic A. Sambasiva Rao
If only NARLA could laugh a little more and smile a little more! How often I have wondered these days, whenever I have heard that he has not been keeping good health. Earnest and even serious as he is, he has paid little attention to rest and rejuvenation, amidst his treasures of art and in the company of is books. Frail in body, he as infinite capacity to re-charge and replenish his sources of energy and inspiration, from reading of books and appreciation of art, and also of course, from incessant smoking. Nobody, who knows him, can miss to notice his liking for smoking.
NARLA’S is a highly sensitive nature. His reactions are quick, sharp, and spontaneous. If good ideas and places and pieces of beauty evoke immediate appreciation and enjoyment in him. Injustice and insolence provoke him to the quick. Once his sensitive mind and heart are roused, his powerful pen goes into instantaneous action. Thus we have seen him, in many a journalistic battles, in the role of gallant knight, wielding his mighty pen as a devastating sword, defending the causes which he as considered righteous, and beating down into smithereens the ideas which he has adjudged unjust and reactionary. No doubt, he has created many a friend and foe alike, in the process. But I have never known him waver in his purpose or resolve on that account.
I first came into contact with NARLA writings his first books Neti Russia (Modern Russia) and Swadesa Samsthanalu (Native States). True they were not as mature and finished as is later writings. Nevertheless, they gripped the attention of my young mind, with their freshness and new outlook. Since then, I have followed NARLA’S career wit great interest. His advent into journalism and his editorship of Andhra Prabha took the Telugu journalist world by storm. He introduced a new force and a new dynamism into Telugu journalism. He brought to bear the entire force of his powerful personality into it. NARLA never knows and never tolerates doing things in halves. Whether constructing a sentence, or even a phrase, or an idiom, or projecting a new idea or theme, or building up a new venture like Andhra Jyoti, he has always been a perfectionst. His assistance is unceasingly on the most appropriate, the most effective, and on the perfect.
NARLA has a very modern and scientific mind. In all his endeavours as a journalist, as a writer, as a thinker, and as a public man, he places “modernism” in the very centre of things, as the very core of the issue, as the practical panacea for India’s and world’s problems and needs. He rebels against orthodox, superstition, and blind faith with all his being. He upholds the primacy of reason and scientific thought in all human endeavour. Inspired as he is eminent thinkers of the world and nearer at home, by Vemana, Veereslingam, and Raghupati Venkataratnam Naidu, NARLA has become a rationalist and humanist, to the very depths of his personality.
He is an ardent nationalist and patriot. His love for Telugu language, literature, and art is great. But these do not prevent him from respecting and appreciating other peoples, their cultures, their languages and arts. His innate humanism and rationalism have made him highly sensitive to beauty wherever he finds it, and receptive of good and original ideas wherever they come from. NARLA is, indeed, a universal person. NARLA, as a journalist and propounder of ideas, played a significant role during the pre-independence years, inspiring people wit patriotism and idealism. After Independence, he turned his attention to practical problems that are inherent in the reconstruction of the Indian society. He has diagnosed that, outstanding of all the problems and the most difficult of them all are ignorance, the superstition, the fear complex, the lack of self-confidence, and the disinclination to receive and imbibe modern ideas, and the disinclination to receive and imbibe modern ideas, which are tying down the Indian people to backwardness and penury. He has, therefore, taken up the challenge and now all his energies and activities are directed towards creating a new and modern outlook in he in the Indian people.
Indeed, NARLA’S role so far has been significant and purposeful. And the glory of his career, and the apex of his contribution to Indian life, is yet to come. And it will come. He is going to make a mighty contribution to the philosophical revolution and cultural renaissance of the Indian people in general and the Telugu people in particular.
- by Avula Sambasiva Rao
Chief Justice, Retd. Andhra Pradesh High Court, (From diamond Jubilee Souvenir 1968)
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