Hyderabad, December 23
Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao is, among his other accomplishments, a linguist proficient in about six languages and a litterateur with poetry, fiction and other writings in Telugu, Marathi, Hindi and English to his credit.
As early as in 1948, PV edited a weekly Telugu magazine titled “Kakatiya” which carried many of his writings, including poetry and fiction. PV used the pen names “Jaya” and “Vijayendra” for his writings during this period, which targeted the Nizam’s anti-people rule.
He translated Thomas Gray’s famous “Elegy” into Telugu. He also translated the Indian Constitution into Telugu as “Bharat Samvidhanam.” But his monumental effort was the translation of Gnanpeeth awardee Viswanatha Satyanarayana’s magnum opus “Veyi Padagalu” into Hindi as “Sahasraphan.” Another of his works was ‘Abala Jeevitam’, Telugu translation of late Shri Hari Narayan Apte’s famous Marathi novel, “Pan Lakshat Kon gheto”, published by Central Sahitya Academy. He also wrote in his early days a short story in English, “The Blue Silk Saree” with the backdrop of communal riots.
His major English work is also his latest literary effort. “The Insider” is an autobiographical novel on backroom politics. Paying tribute to PV’s literary endeavour, Mulk Raj Anand remarked, “No one during the fifty years of freedom has attempted to tell the truth of contemporary history as you have done. So, in whatever form it comes, it is welcome... “ Recently, PV expressed the wish to come out with a sequel to “The Insider” as well as to write a book on the Ayodhya tangle. None of which he could take up due to ill-health.
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PV was opposed to separate Telangana. He stood firmly for the unity of the state, when separate Telangana agitation was at its peak in 1968. The then PM, Mrs Indira Gandhi, chose to replace Chief Minister K Brahmananda Reddy with PV to find a solution to the problem. Interestingly, PV had to lose his job when a separate Andhra movement raised its head in 1972. That was when PV shifted his focus to Delhi politics.
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PV started his career as a rationing officer in the Civil Supplies Department. Later, after he completed his law degree, he worked as a junior lawyer under stalwart Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, who later became the Chief Minister of the state.
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His victory from the Nandyal constituency (in Kadapa district) gave former P.V. Narasimha Rao an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records in 1991 for the maximum votes — 89.5%! — polled. In 1996, he had an opposition to contend with, and still managed to poll 366, 431 votes and defeat the TDP.
