Real achievement will be when people adopt organic farming techniques
Preeti Biswas
Secunderabad: My real achievement would be when people start using my organic farming techniques at large and adopt healthy eating as a way of life, said Chintala Venkat Reddy, who was conferred with Padma Shri on January 25.
He was one among three people from Telangana to have received the prestigious award. Born in Alwal, Hyderabad in an agriculture family, he always had keen interest in agriculture. His invention that improves soil fertility also attracted the Presidents of the United States of America, Bill Clinton in 2001 and George W Bush in 2006 during their visit to Hyderabad.
“I don’t use any fertilizer, insecticides or fungicides for agriculture. Every soil has natural nutrients that can be utilised for farming. My mantra is to rejuvenate top layer of soil to reduce depletion of nutrients,” said Reddy.
For Reddy, Padma Shri is only a recognition that will help him spread the word about the novel techniques that he has developed in agriculture. Although his techniques have received patents from many countries in Europe, South Africa, Australia to name a few, he wants them to be widely and freely used by growers and cultivators.
“There is very little research into organic farming or agriculture field. Even if there are any, they fail to reach the masses. Purpose of developing new techniques is not to secure patents but to spread them widely,” said Reddy.
Now an expert into grape farming, he replicated the soil fertility technology in rice, wheat and black grapes which lead to high yields and high nutritive value. He was awarded with Uttam Rythu Puraskar award by former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Rajashekar Reddy in January, 2006 and a national award at India-Agri Award in New Delhi in February 2012.
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It’s the biggest recognition for me, says puppeteer Chalapathi Rao
Sandeep Raghavan
Tirupati: Puppeteer Dalavai Chalapathi Rao is mighty elated after being selected for the Padma Shri. “This is the biggest recognition I could ever get for dedicating my life for keeping alive the folk art form, which is fading away in the modern age,” Chalapathi Rao told TOI as he received neighbours and friends congratulating him.
Born in 1936 at the sleepy village of Nimmalakunta near Dharmavaram in Anantapur district, Chalapathi Rao was attracted to puppet shows quite early. He learnt the art from his father Khade Rao at an early age of 13.
And for the next five decades, Chalapathi Rao along with his group of eight artistes gave several puppet shows, mostly revolving around mythological themes. Some of his most popular performances are from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Chalapathi Rao and his troupe also rendered performances in the USA, Germany and France more than 65 times. As years passed by, Chalapathi Rao turned a teacher and inspiration for the youngsters at his village who took up puppet shows as their source of livelihood.
Of late, Chalapathi Rao along with his family members began training craftsman in making leather paintings, lamp shades, room partitions etc, as the art form began slowly fading away.
Chalapathi Rao, 84, said this is the biggest prize of his life. ‘‘I won a national award in 1988 and several other awards later. But nothing can be compared to being conferred a Padma Shri”, he said.
Celebrations erupted all around at Dharmavaram and Nimmalakunta where people queued up to congratulate Chalapathi Rao.
——
Five-decade passion for acting, Gopala Rao finally gets Padma Shri
J Umamaheswara Rao
Visakhapatnam: After five decades on stage and more than 5,600 theatre appearances, Yadla Gopala Rao, who became a household name for his acting prowess in Srikakulam district, has finally been recognised for his yeoman services to Telugu theatre when the Union government announced Padma Shri to him on Saturday.
Starting his theatre career as an adolescent, he had donned many a role in both mythological and social dramas. But Rao found his forte in enacting the roles of mythological heroes such as Lord Krishna, Lord Rama and Sage Narada.
His ‘Nakshatraka’ role in ‘Satya Harishchandra’ play stands out among all others.
Gopala Rao has been a recipient of several state and regional awards and is extremely popular on YouTube through his acting videos. Known for his skills in classical poem recital, he even donned the role of a movie producer when he made a movie of the lyrical play, “Satya Harishchandra,” in its original form. The movie, released in 2013, received much critical acclaim.
Speaking to ToI, the 70-year-old noted theatre personality said that he is happy to get the award at a time when the mythological plays have been witnessing a declining interest among the public.
“I derived true pleasure in stage plays for the last five decades and contributed my bit to the arts. My efforts and contributions to the theatre have finally paid off through the award,” said Rao.
Rao was born in Mandarada village in Santakaviti Mandal in 1950 and completed his PUC (pre-university course) in the Government College, Srikakulam in 1964. He made his stage debut as early as in 1964 when he was 14 in a social drama named ‘Desam Kosam’ (for the country). He earned a huge fan base not only in Andhra Pradesh, but also in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, etc. through his theatre performances.
All that I know, I learnt from my mother
Karimnagar: Litterateur and Sanskrit scholar Vijayasarathi Sribhashyam described the Padma Shri award as rare recognition for Sanskrit literature and language.
“My mother Gopamamba is my mentor and teacher. All that I know about Sanskrit, I learnt from her,” Vijayasarathi said. Vijayasarathi’s wife Hemalatha and son Varaprasad are elated over the recognition.
Vijayasarthi who was born in Chegurthi village in Karimnagar had his primary education in Urdu medium. His interest in Sanksrit propelled him to learn the language and Vijayasarathi took to composing Sanskrit poetry at the age of eight. He went on to author over a 100 books. He pioneered the use of several new genres and modes of expression in Sanskrit. He introduced ‘seesam’, a telugu indigenous poetic form, and was also the first one to introduce epistolary form in Sanskrit literature. His work Mandakini shot him to fame and won him laurels in India and abroad. Vijayasarath also has the distinction of using the maximum number of ‘dhatus’ in his poems.
In the year 2017, chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had honored him with the Sanskrit Scholar award on the eve of Independence Day at Golconda fort, the family recalls with pride. Several literary scholars and fans of Vijayasarathis work expresses joy over the award being presented to the scholar.
Preeti Biswas
Secunderabad: My real achievement would be when people start using my organic farming techniques at large and adopt healthy eating as a way of life, said Chintala Venkat Reddy, who was conferred with Padma Shri on January 25.
He was one among three people from Telangana to have received the prestigious award. Born in Alwal, Hyderabad in an agriculture family, he always had keen interest in agriculture. His invention that improves soil fertility also attracted the Presidents of the United States of America, Bill Clinton in 2001 and George W Bush in 2006 during their visit to Hyderabad.
“I don’t use any fertilizer, insecticides or fungicides for agriculture. Every soil has natural nutrients that can be utilised for farming. My mantra is to rejuvenate top layer of soil to reduce depletion of nutrients,” said Reddy.
For Reddy, Padma Shri is only a recognition that will help him spread the word about the novel techniques that he has developed in agriculture. Although his techniques have received patents from many countries in Europe, South Africa, Australia to name a few, he wants them to be widely and freely used by growers and cultivators.
“There is very little research into organic farming or agriculture field. Even if there are any, they fail to reach the masses. Purpose of developing new techniques is not to secure patents but to spread them widely,” said Reddy.
Now an expert into grape farming, he replicated the soil fertility technology in rice, wheat and black grapes which lead to high yields and high nutritive value. He was awarded with Uttam Rythu Puraskar award by former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Rajashekar Reddy in January, 2006 and a national award at India-Agri Award in New Delhi in February 2012.
—
It’s the biggest recognition for me, says puppeteer Chalapathi Rao
Sandeep Raghavan
Tirupati: Puppeteer Dalavai Chalapathi Rao is mighty elated after being selected for the Padma Shri. “This is the biggest recognition I could ever get for dedicating my life for keeping alive the folk art form, which is fading away in the modern age,” Chalapathi Rao told TOI as he received neighbours and friends congratulating him.
Born in 1936 at the sleepy village of Nimmalakunta near Dharmavaram in Anantapur district, Chalapathi Rao was attracted to puppet shows quite early. He learnt the art from his father Khade Rao at an early age of 13.
And for the next five decades, Chalapathi Rao along with his group of eight artistes gave several puppet shows, mostly revolving around mythological themes. Some of his most popular performances are from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Chalapathi Rao and his troupe also rendered performances in the USA, Germany and France more than 65 times. As years passed by, Chalapathi Rao turned a teacher and inspiration for the youngsters at his village who took up puppet shows as their source of livelihood.
Of late, Chalapathi Rao along with his family members began training craftsman in making leather paintings, lamp shades, room partitions etc, as the art form began slowly fading away.
Chalapathi Rao, 84, said this is the biggest prize of his life. ‘‘I won a national award in 1988 and several other awards later. But nothing can be compared to being conferred a Padma Shri”, he said.
Celebrations erupted all around at Dharmavaram and Nimmalakunta where people queued up to congratulate Chalapathi Rao.
——
Five-decade passion for acting, Gopala Rao finally gets Padma Shri
J Umamaheswara Rao
Visakhapatnam: After five decades on stage and more than 5,600 theatre appearances, Yadla Gopala Rao, who became a household name for his acting prowess in Srikakulam district, has finally been recognised for his yeoman services to Telugu theatre when the Union government announced Padma Shri to him on Saturday.
Starting his theatre career as an adolescent, he had donned many a role in both mythological and social dramas. But Rao found his forte in enacting the roles of mythological heroes such as Lord Krishna, Lord Rama and Sage Narada.
His ‘Nakshatraka’ role in ‘Satya Harishchandra’ play stands out among all others.
Gopala Rao has been a recipient of several state and regional awards and is extremely popular on YouTube through his acting videos. Known for his skills in classical poem recital, he even donned the role of a movie producer when he made a movie of the lyrical play, “Satya Harishchandra,” in its original form. The movie, released in 2013, received much critical acclaim.
Speaking to ToI, the 70-year-old noted theatre personality said that he is happy to get the award at a time when the mythological plays have been witnessing a declining interest among the public.
“I derived true pleasure in stage plays for the last five decades and contributed my bit to the arts. My efforts and contributions to the theatre have finally paid off through the award,” said Rao.
Rao was born in Mandarada village in Santakaviti Mandal in 1950 and completed his PUC (pre-university course) in the Government College, Srikakulam in 1964. He made his stage debut as early as in 1964 when he was 14 in a social drama named ‘Desam Kosam’ (for the country). He earned a huge fan base not only in Andhra Pradesh, but also in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, etc. through his theatre performances.
All that I know, I learnt from my mother
Karimnagar: Litterateur and Sanskrit scholar Vijayasarathi Sribhashyam described the Padma Shri award as rare recognition for Sanskrit literature and language.
“My mother Gopamamba is my mentor and teacher. All that I know about Sanskrit, I learnt from her,” Vijayasarathi said. Vijayasarathi’s wife Hemalatha and son Varaprasad are elated over the recognition.
Vijayasarthi who was born in Chegurthi village in Karimnagar had his primary education in Urdu medium. His interest in Sanksrit propelled him to learn the language and Vijayasarathi took to composing Sanskrit poetry at the age of eight. He went on to author over a 100 books. He pioneered the use of several new genres and modes of expression in Sanskrit. He introduced ‘seesam’, a telugu indigenous poetic form, and was also the first one to introduce epistolary form in Sanskrit literature. His work Mandakini shot him to fame and won him laurels in India and abroad. Vijayasarath also has the distinction of using the maximum number of ‘dhatus’ in his poems.
In the year 2017, chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had honored him with the Sanskrit Scholar award on the eve of Independence Day at Golconda fort, the family recalls with pride. Several literary scholars and fans of Vijayasarathis work expresses joy over the award being presented to the scholar.