The Sea Side Bride
“Don’t let
winter enter your house
If old age
knocks on your door
Don’t let
him in
Let he be
told , you are not home”
Says
Devulapalli Krishna Sastri, The famous Telugu poet.
This comes true in “The Sea side bride”, recently written by my 94 year young friend Dasu
Krishna Moorty .A very interesting auto fiction for sure.
Life is a series of highs and lows, but it is also a many
splendoured thing when we look back at it .of course it depends on the glasses
we look through.
“Old age also is the time we relive the past merely by
reminiscing…….” Says he.
“At ninety three I use the computer for a minimum of eight
hours ,mostly mining the Google ,which is my dictionary, encyclopedia .pharmacopeia
and also cornucopia .I compare it to Krishna’s mouth containing the universe”
says this nonagenarian writer, who loves ,nature, literature , music and life
with all its colors and their hues.
“The Sea Side Bride” has in its first part, the memories of
his palatial house with a number of rooms, a printing press with its own
powerhouse and a car. His was a life of
opulence in his childhood and
youth at Bezwada .Afterwards, his family moved to Hyderabad of Nizam state, but his
school and college education was at Bezwada. . The second half has anecdotes from his life
called” Stories” and the third part is about his immigration, his life in America
and, the transformation of his loneliness into creativity. Cracking the
infinity of time and, breaking the silence. Starting a web site along with his daughter,
he began translating Telugu stories into English and publishing anthologies.
That way getting in touch with many Telugu writers. And one of them is me an old aquintance ,rediscovered in that process .
This book also enlightens us on how the cities looked at that
time of his life .The pre independence Bezwada with two cinema theatres and
only ten motor cars seen on the roads, the railway station of Bezwada .dividing
the town into old and new. With its three canals, it looked
Venetian. The erstwhile Nizam state capital Hyderabad, and the then
Barkatpura and its chaman. At that time .Barkatpura
was a posh area where the officials and rich people lived. His
father rented two flats in a beautiful house .By that time he had completed
studying Law in Belgaum and was waiting to take up a job, he was not interested in. That was the perfect
time for romantic thoughts and he found his dream girl in a small cottage like
house opposite his vantage window .Being a lover of music and nature our writer
is no less romantic.He wooed the girl and told his mother about his love .But
the girl’s parents were rather afraid to give the girl in marriage to our
writer because of the girl’s low financial status and rustic background. The girl went away to her
village .our writer took it stoically and proceeded to join in journalism course
started at Osmania university just then. His father being a journalist once did
not object to his taking up that course. That being the birth of a renowned
journalist and writer. From here we come across the title story “The Sea side
bride” .The girl who hailed from Bapatla a village on the sea shore and famous
for its jasmines. He liked her and married her. Theirs was a happy
companionship with great concern for each other. Their daughter who won a National scholarship
at high school level and later did her PH.D in the United States Of America and married the boy of her
choice. He writes about his fever in a train journey to Chennai. A theft in his
house at Delhi, about a renewed friendship after a long pause, about
jettisoning the junk where he locates valuable memorabilia. The junking becomes
a long process .As a journalist in prestigious news papers he attends various
press conferences in various countries
and had varied experiences .one
such experience was to know how we form stereotypical opinions about people and
countries mostly by the influence of media..And how those opinions turn out to be false . When a Pakistani and A Bangla Deshi help the writer in a plane
journey and reveal their ambition for
friendship between our two countries, he wonders how we fall into the trap of
politicians and the media. In addition to the stories in lighter vein about
getting his birth certificate in Bezwada ,confiscication of the cutlery in the
Newark airport and never getting it back
and a couple of similar ones with wit and humor. The story about his wife’s leaving this world.
Her last rites. and his departure to America, grief still sitting in his heart,
his sobbing alone, are touching to the
core He transformed his lonliness in the wood and glass house in the United States of America into creativity . He could see the flowers in the
garden from behind the window glass .where he was alone until the three people returned home ,.It took a
little time to acclimatize and adapt. .He captures the golden moments when he
went on a road trip with his wife in
America .The first time the couple visited their daughter and gave her a
kanjivaram Saree as a blessing to the mother to be. KrishnaMoorty garu likes
Raymond Carver. and Haruki Murakami.His style is simple, witty and at the same
time touching.
This book is a welcome gift to the reader who wishes to know
the transformation of the society from the early 20th century until
this day. A seasoned journalist and
writer, Krishna Moorty garu is quite abreast of the times and his memories are a treasure trove for the posterity.I know
it is mind over the matter.I am proud to be known to him,to become friends with him and to get this book
as a gift from him.
P.Sathyavathi
vijayawada
