Gunturu Seshendra Sarma

Gunturu Seshendra Sarma B.A. B.L. (20 October 1927 – 30 May 2007), also known as Yuga Kavi, was a Telugu poet, critic and litterateur. He is well known for his works Naa Desam, Naa Prajalu and Kaala Rekha. He authored over fifty works which have been translated into English, Kannada, Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali and Greek.

Personal life At 18 years of age, Sarma's marriage was arranged to Gunturu Janaki (née Yeddanapudi Janaki), and they had two sons and two daughters: Vasundhara (1951), Revathi (1953), Vanamaali (1956) and Satyaki (1958). Later in 1970 he married Indira Devi Dhanrajgir, an Indo Anglican poet. Till his death on 30 May 2007, he lived with her at her Gyanbagh Palace. His love for his children was limitless - “an ocean of love” in his own words. His joy knew no bounds whenever he saw his children and grandchildren (see foto). In a literary biography “Seshendra velugu niidallo” written by his son Vanamali Gunturu, the author describes the literary genius and unparalleled scholarship of his father, his evolution from an everybody’s darling in a small village Thotapalliguduru till his complete maturity as author and intellectual, who was engaged in an incessant fight against the brute power of the state and was a victim of political persecution. At the same time the biography shows how his wife Janaki had to swallow the pangs of being married to such a historical person as Seshendra and the injustice being done to her.

Works Seshendra Sarma is the second person to have been nominated for the Nobel Literature prize for his contribution to literary field from India, the first being Rabindranath Tagore. The West Bengal Government conferred upon him the title "Rashtrendu" (Moon of the Nation) in honour of his accomplishments. Telugu University conferred an honorary D.Litt. on him in 1994. He received the "Kalidas Samman" award from the Madhya Pradhesh government. He won a Central Sahitya Akademi fellowship in 1999. The other important awards Seshendra received are ‘Subrahmanya Bharati Ekta Award’ from the Hindi Academy, Rashtriya Sanskriti Puraskar’, ‘Ugadi Puraskar’, ‘Tilak Award’ and ‘Sahitya Ratna 2001’ from Sri Ram Sahitya Mandal, Himachal Pradesh. He has been nominated as a member to the ‘Kendriya Hindi Samithi’ by Prime Minister of India. He was selected for Hamsa Award, in 2004-05, by the Govt. of AP.

Seshendra's first work in print appeared in 1952.

Dr. Vanamali Gunturu, Seshendra velugu niidallo - nannato na anubhavalu, EMESCO 2021

Awards and titles conferred 1994 Sahitya Akademi Award in Telugu literature for his work Kaala Rekha – won 1994 Honorary D.Litt. by Telugu University 1999 Central Sahitya Akademi fellowship for contribution to Telugu literature 2001 Sahitya Ratna by Sri Ram Sahitya Mandal, Himachal Pradesh - won Jnanpeeth award for contribution to Telugu literature – nominated 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for My Country, My People – nominated 2004-2005 Hamsa Award by Andhra Pradesh State Government for contribution to Telugu literature - won Rashtrendu (Moon of the Nation) by West Bengal State Government Kalidas Samman by Madhya Pradesh State Government Subrahmanya Ekta Award by Hindi Academy - won Rashtriya Sanskriti Puraskar - won Ugadi Puraskar - won Lokamanya Tilak Award - won Member of Kendriya Hindi Samiti - nominated by Prime Minister of India