C. Narayana Reddy

Cingireddi Narayana Reddy was born on 29 July 1931 in the village of Hanumajipet in present-day Rajanna Sircilla district of Telangana to a Telugu family of Malla Reddy and Buchamma. After completing his higher secondary education Karimnagar, he went on to study at the Osmania University, Hyderabad in 1949. He took Telugu as his subject during his graduation. Reddy received his Master of Arts degree in 1954 and became a college lecturer in 1955. He received Ph.D. in 1962 on "Modern Traditions of Telugu" and became a professor in 1976. Naryana Reddy married Suseela and with her had four daughters , Ganga , Yamuna ,Saraswathi and Krishnaveni , named after famous rivers of India . Reddy instituted an award named after his wife which is presented annually to the female writers. Reddy was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, in August 1997. ==Literary works==

Reddy's first published work was a poetry collection Navvani Puvvu (The Bashful Flower) in 1953 and later went on to publish several other works like Vennela Vada (The Monnlight Town, 1959), Jalapatham (The Waterfall), Divvela Muvvalu (Candle Bells, 1959), Rutu Chakram (Cycle of Seasons, 1964), Madhyatharagathi Mandahasam (The Smile of the Middle Class, 1968), and Mantalu Manavudu (Flames and the Man, 1970). His 1980 published poetic work Viswambhara (The Earth) received wide critical acclaim and has been translated into several Indian languages like Kannada by Mr. Markandepuram Srinivas, Malayalam by Dr. Sushma Shankar. The Sahitya Akademi noted of it, "This monumental work in free verse depicts the journey of man through the ages as he strives to attain spiritual, artistic, and scientific excellence." Reddy's Nagarjuna Sagaram is a Buddhist epic poetry based on a heart-breaking love story of a lady Santisri who comes to study Buddhism and falls in love with a sculptor Padmadeva. His 1957 Karpura Vasantha Rayulu was an epic poem retelling the romance between the King Kumara Giri of Reddy dynasty and his court dancer Lakuma. The book was dedicated to Telugu historian Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma whose main contributions were regarding the recording of Reddy history. Along with poetry, Reddy also composed musical plays Ramappa (1960), based on Kakatiya dynasty and the collection of ten plays Narayana Reddy Natikalu (Play-lets of Narayana Reddy, 1978). He published analysis of modern Telugu poetry, its precursors, its progression through various phases and its modern-day forms in Adhunikandhara Kavitamu - Sampradayamulu Prayogamalu: Modern Telugu Poetry Tradition and Experiment. His 1997 published book Matti Manishi Akasam (Man Beyond Earth and Sky) consists of a long poem of around hundred pages. He wrote a few travelogues about his travels to various countries including a tour of Malaysia in Muchataga Moodu Varalu, about Russia in Soviet Russsialo Padi Rojulu and about the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France in Paschatya Desallo Yabai Rojulu. == Film career ==

Reddy's first film as a lyricist was Gulebakavali Katha (1962) which was directed by N. T. Rama Rao. Reddy later went on to write more than 3000 film songs. His last song was for the film Inkennallu (2011) which was directed by Syed Rafi. He won the Nandi Award for Best Lyricist twice for the song "Kantene Amma Ani Ante Ela?" from the movie Preminchu (2001) and "Idigo Raayalaseema Gadda" from the movie Seetayya (2003). ==Bibliography==

Reddy won several awards for his literary work which includes the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1973 for his poetry collection Mantalu Manavudu, the Jnanpith Award for Viswambhara in 1988 and was conferred with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2014, the highest honour of the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. Reddy was also awarded an honorary Kala Prapoorna by Andhra University in 1978, the Soviet Land Nehru award in 1982, The Government of India honored him with the fourth and third highest civilian awards, Padma Shri (1977) and Padma Bhushan (1992). He also won the Nandi Award for Best Lyricist twice for the song "Kantene Amma Ani Ante Ela?" from the movie Preminchu (2001) and "Idigo Raayalaseema Gadda" from the movie Seetayya (2003). ==Death==

Reddy developed health complication and complained of chest pain and was shifted to the Care Hospital. He died on 12 June 2017 at the age of 85. ==References==