Chaya devi sarathkumar

Soft-spoken but firm, delicate yet filled with an innate power to face life's vicissitudes, Abburi Chaya Devi was a writer, who defied circumstances to carve her own path in the Telugu literary firmament creating a 'silent revolution' in keeping with her external demeanour. Not surprisingly the writer whose short stories and essays reflected the turmoil faced by women in an unequal patriarchal society, stood up for her ilk winning the Central Sahitya Akademi award in for her pathbreaking work titled 'Tana Margam' Her way.

Most of her stories emerged from her own life experiences and the attitudes that dominated her childhood in a conservative Brahmin household where a male child was the 'centre of existence' and different rules were followed for men and women. The writer once recalled how her father performed several prayers that included 'Suryanamaskarams' for a male child and named her Chaya Devi after Surya's wife on begetting a female child.

It delved into her journey with her father who was clearly the sole authority in the family outlining his unconcealed joy at the birth of his son and the trauma he experienced at his untimely death as also her own inability to stand by him. Beginning with her first story 'Anubandham' written in under the name Maddali Chaya Devi, the author had come up with several works like 'Srimathi Udyogini', 'Prayanam', 'Sukhantam', 'Bonsai Bathukulu' and others which uncover fascinating facets of the female mind and issues that are close to their heart.

As a feminist writer with a rare understanding, her writing is imbued with depth, sensitivity and empathy towards her subjects. They are a product of her heart's longing as well as that of other women. Her short story 'Prayanam' published in was a poignant tale where the changes in the heroine's personal life are reflected in the course of her train journeys.

Her experience on the way not only changed her as an individual but helped her realise the wisdom of the man chosen for her in contrast to the man she chose as a life partner. Through this story, the author also set to rest notions that feminist writing is mostly about male bashing. The profound views expressed by her characters, their realistic portrayal, the outpouring of emotions and the paradoxes presented by circumstances are part of her body of work that remains enduring through time.

Abburi chaya devi stories in telugu

Despite emotional upheavals they strive to retain their identity and change the mindset of men," the author opined looking at life through 'feminine eyes' as she liked to say. Chaya Devi's writing became more intense and focused after her marriage as both her husband Varadarajeswara Rao and father-in-law Abburi Ramakrishna Rao were literary giants.

Her stint as deputy librarian at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University in the sixties also contributed to her interest in varied literary and academic works that added a world view. This continued even after she resigned and returned to Hyderabad in the early eighties. As a member of the Central Sahitya Akademi, she did her bit for the promotion of good literature that was on par with other language writers who had earned national repute.