World-Me-My viewpoint

“ Udumudade nurendlunu Badiundade bermi baamu padinurendlun Maduvuna gokkera undade Kadu nila burushardhaparudu kaavale Sumathi ” This can be translated as “ A monitor lizard lives for a hundred years A snake lives for a thousand years like a heron in water waiting for its food An individual should be for attaining the supreme being ” This poem talks about the importance of patience as a virtue. A monitor lizard can live for a hundred years in the same habitat where it lives. These lizards were earlier used by armies as a part of their campaigns. These lizards have a habit of attaching itself to a surface. It is very difficult to dislodge it once it attaches to a surface. A solider used to attach a rope to its tail and make to crawl up the fort wall and attach itself to the wall. A soldier used to go up the wall using the rope and make way for others. The lizard despite being in pain due to the heavy weight of the solider will not get itself detached from...

“ Immuga chadavani norunu Amma ani bilchi annamadugani norun Dammula biluvani norunu Gummari manu dravvinatti guntara Sumathi ” This can be translated as follows “ A mouth which cannot read properly (clearly) A mouth which cannot ask mother for food properly A mouth which cannot call the younger siblings Is nothing but a mud pit ” This poem though looks plain has immense meaning. This poem talks about the importance of talking properly and maintaining relations. A person who cannot read and write properly is an illiterate. Such a person will not be talking properly and will face social discrimination apart from getting deceived by unscrupulous persons. Such an illiterate may not be knowing the sophistication and may behave in a way which is socially not acceptable. Similarly if a person cannot call his mother as mother and ask for food properly then one cannot expect much sophistication from such person. The third line talks about not calling th...

“ Aakati udagani kadupunu Vekatiyagu lanja padupu viduvani brathukun Brakonna nuuti udakamu Mekala padiyunu rota medini Sumathi ” This can be translated as “A gluttonous person A pregnant prostitute still continuing with her prostitution Water from a well full of algae Milk from goats are bad” The literal meaning of the first line says a stomach for which hunger never stops. That is the owner of such a stomach goes on eating food never saying no. Such a situation is called gluttony or binge eating. Such kind of a person is like an animal who goes on eating unabated and is never satiated. The food habits of such a person appear bad to others. There is a story which signifies a similar situation in Sinbad’s Travels. In one of the travels, as usual Sindbad is shipwrecked and ends up in a particular island along with some other shipmates. The inhabitants were very kind give them some medicine. However Sinbad gets suspicious and did not take the medicine while his m...

“ Ichchunade vidya, ranamuna jochhunade magatanambu, sukaviswarulun mechhunade nerpu, vaduku vachhunade keedu vasudhanu Sumathi ” In this world " Knowledge is to be imparted going into war fearlessly is valour Expertise is recognized by the top experts A bad thing to happen hunts the person (to whom it happen) " On the face of it this looks a simple and straight forward poem. It is a well known thing that Knowledge needs to be imparted to others. Such imparted knowledge increases the quest for knowledge further and adds further to the mankind's knowledge. If one has knowledge but did not impart / teach it to others then such knowledge ends with that person and will not be of much help to anyone. Valour of a person can be gauged by the fearlessness with which the person gets into a war. The war may be an actual war or any situation which is like a war. In other words it is like an situation threatening existence (existential crises). At such tim...

“ Aakonna kuude amrutham Taakoncheka nichhuvade daata dharitrin sokorchuvade manujudu tekuva kalavade vamsatilakudu mahilo Sumathi ” In English it is something like this Whatever Food available to a very hungry person One who does not stop at giving is the best philanthropist One who comfort others without caring for his own is the best human being One who has the efficiency / wherewithal to improve family name is the head of the family in the world The above are the best things to happen in the world. When one is hungry whatever food available tastes the best. The person in such a situation will not be considered about the origin, taste, colour etc. The person will consume the food and will find it the most tasty, desirable food at that time. He will even remember such moments and such food all through his life. In India and remembers the giver as a God, Amritha is considered the food of the Gods. A person can be considered the best Philanthropist i...

Today I am discussing a poem is evident in modern management practice. The words may be offensive to some people but one needs to look at the actual meaning before deciding further “ Alluni Manchitanambu Gollani Sahityavidya, Komali Nijamun Bolluna danchina biyyamu Tellani Kakulu levu mahilo Sumathi ” This can be translated as “ There is nothing on Earth like A good son-in-law a Shepherd's literary proficiency, A lady speaking truth Rice milled out of already processed husk White crows ” This looks a little bit weird at first. The inner meaning of the above lines is do not believe in outlier events but concentrate on the general outcomes. Let us look at the poem It is rare to find a son-in-law who does not expect anything from their in-laws. A son-in-law is from another family to whom a girl will be married to. In general they will be looking for some benefit / favour in the form of gifts, financial assistance etc., from in-laws. The second on...

Today's poem describes choosing a correct village / town to live. In earlier days people used to migrate from one place to another and live there for sometime before moving on. This is something akin to the Old Wild West in USA. This poem describes the essentials for choosing a place to live “ Appichhuvaadu, Vaidyudu Neppudu nedathegaka paaru nerun, dwijudun joppadina yuru nundumum chhoppadakunnatti yuuru sorakumu Sumathi ” “One should live in a village / town which has A lender, A Doctor An (ever) flowing stream, A priest Do not enter the village / town which does not have the above” The meaning is quite obvious. One should prefer living at a place where there is a lender to borrow in case of financial necessities. There should be a doctor for treating any ailments. There should be an (ever) flowing stream to take care of the day-to-day needs of the residents and a Priest to give some good sermons and to take care of the rites on death. The above sim...

Today will be discussing about some of the situations which result in disaster for the person concerned The original poem is “ Appukoni cheyu vibhavam Muppuna brayamputalu, moorkhuni tapamun dapparani nrupu rajyam depparami keedu thechhura Sumathi ” The English translation is something like this “ Living Beyond means (or Living luxuriously) on loans Marriage at a very old age to an young lady, worship of an idiot A kingdom where the king does not have proper control definitely results in disasters ” Well not much explanation is required for the above poem. A person living beyond his means very luxuriously will definitely end up bankrupt after sometime bring a financial disaster onto himself / herself and the family. This is applicable even to the nations. A nation which is living beyond its means by borrowing more and more ultimately ends up defaulting its loans. One can identify a person or a nation living beyond its means by looking at what they ...

 Today am discussing a poem which at first sight appears to be meaningless but one can find a hidden meaning in this poem “ Adharam gadaliyu, gadalaka Madhuramulagu bhashaludigi mounavratudau Adikara roga puritha Badhirantaka savamu juda bapamu Sumathi” The translation looks something like this (part of the last line is taken to first) It is a sin to see a dead body (rather living dead person) whose lips can move but does not move does not talk properly (sweetly is the word used) or keep his mouth shut Suffers from the power and acts blind and deaf A first look shows that this poem looks a meaningless group of words. If one start looking at the overall meaning then it becomes clear. We come across several types of people in our day to day interactions with people. This poem talks about a certain set of people, who even though can put in a word for benefit / good of some one or society will not do so. These people may be opinion makers who with th...

Today I will be discussing about two poems which talk about almost similar things in life. They run like this Original Poem – In English Script Adigina Jeethambiyani Midimelapu Doranu golchi midukuka kanten Vadigala Eddula gattuka Madi dunnuka brataka vacchu mahilo Sumathi Adiyasa koluvu goluvaku gudi maniyam seyaboku, kujanula todan viduvaka kurimi seyaku madavini dodarakonti narugaku Sumathi The English translation runs something like “Instead of continuously ruing and working under an unrealistic / unsympathetic boss buy a pair of bullocks, till the land and live peacefully” “Do not continue with a job which belies your aspirations Do not till the lands of a temple Do not continue with a company of bad people Do not go alone into a forest” These two poems talk about the most commonsense points which either people ignore in the day to day life. The points raised in these two poems are very much relevant in modern day situations. ...

Sumathi Sataka is a set of 100 four line poems written in Telugu around 800 years back. The poems were widely quoted even by commoners in their day to day conversations up to 60s and 70s. With the growing importance of English language studies over the past 3-4 decades, very few popular poems are now part of the language studies in the lower classes for students. Naturally most of the poems are not known to the current generations. This is a small attempt to introduce these poems to the current generation and their relevance to the current society. Each of the poems end with a word "SUMATHI" which is generally known as makuta (header). Sumathi can be broken into two parts su - good, mathi - mind / nature. That is good nature / good minded. Sataka means hundred. This book contains one hundred (it will be 108 actually) poems in Telugu which deal with the happenings in the society which are compared to some examples which are again from the common happenings. The third line ...