Cingireddi Narayana Reddy (29 July 1931 – 12 June 2017), popularly known as CiNaRe, was an Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

-language poet and writer. Reddy had produced over eighty literary works including poems, prose-plays, lyrical plays, translations, and

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s. He was also a professor, film lyricist, actor, and

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

politician. Reddy was awarded the

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in 1988, and he served as the Vice Chancellor of

Telugu University The Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University (PSTU) is one of the few Indian language universities in India. University It was established as "Telugu University" on 2 December 1985 through an Act of Legislation (Act No. 27 of 1985) by the State Legi ...

. He ventured into the film industry as a lyricist with the 1962 film ''

Gulebakavali Katha ''Gulebakavali Katha'' () is a 1962 Indian Telugu-language fantasy swashbuckler film directed by N. T. Rama Rao. The film was produced by N. Trivikrama Rao on National Art Theatres banner. It is based on the folk tale '' Gulebakavali'' from th ...

.'' Subsequently'','' he penned the lyrics for more than 3,500 songs and won two state Nandi Awards for Best Lyricist.(in

)

Early life and career

Cingireddi Narayana Reddy was born on 29 July 1931 in the village of Hanumajipet in present-day

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

to a Telugu family of Malla Reddy and Buchamma. His father was a farmer and his mother was a housewife. After completing his higher secondary education, he went on to study at the

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate public state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farman to establish OSMANIA UNIVERSITY on the day of 28 August 1918. ...

, Hyderabad in 1949. Reddy studied in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' He took Telugu as his subject during his graduation. Reddy received his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

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. He did his primary, secondary and higher secondary in Urdu medium. He studied Telugu privately during schooling in Sircilla under the guidance and tutelage of Gurus Satavadhani Seshadri Ramana Kavulu of

Machilipatnam Machilipatnam (), also known as Masulipatnam and Bandar, is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Krishna district. It is also the mandal headquarte ...

. He was mentored by the legendary poet and Jnanpith awardee Kavi Samrat

Viswanatha Satyanarayana Viswanatha Satyanarayana (10 September 1885 – 18 October 1976) was a 20th-century Telugu writer. His works included poetry, novels, dramatic play, short stories and speeches, covering a wide range of subjects such as analysis of hist ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

, the first principal of

Karimnagar Karimnagar is also known as Elagandula (Ancient name) is a city and District Headquarters in the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar is a major urban agglomeration and fifth largest City in the state. It is governed by Municipal corporation a ...

Government College (1959–61). After completing his primary and secondary education at his hometown, he moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

to pursue his degree education. He learned of the Modern Telugu literary giants and read books written by Gurram Jashua, Sri Sri,

Devulapalli Krishna Sastry Devulapalli Krishnasastri (1 November 1897 – 24 February 1980) was a Telugu poet, playwright and translator known for his works in Telugu literature and Telugu cinema. He is known as ''Andhra Shelley''. In 1976, Krishnasastri was honoured with ...

. Naryana Reddy married Suseela and with her had four daughters. Reddy instituted an award named after his wife which is presented annually to the female writers. Reddy was nominated to the

, the

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of t ...

, 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), ''Jalapatam'' (''The Waterfall''), ''Divvela Muvvalu'' (''Candle Bells'', 1959), ''Ritu Chakram'' (''Cycle of Seasons'', 1964), ''Madhyataragati 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. The

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

appreciated it as "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 The Reddi kingdom or Kondavidu Reddi kingdom (1325–1448 CE) was established in southern India by Prolaya Vema Reddi. Most of the region that was ruled by the Reddi dynasty is now part of modern-day coastal and central Andhra Pradesh. Orig ...

and his court dancer Lakuma. The book was dedicated to Telugu historian

Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma __NOTOC__ Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma (1891 – 7 January 1963) was an Indian historian, who worked at the Andhra University. The ''Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma Historical Research Foundation'' was established in Visakhapatnam in honour of S ...

whose main contributions were regarding the recording of Reddy history. Bhimsen Nirmal translated ''Vishwambhara'' into Hindi as ''Viswambhara'' and his Telugu poetry collection ''Prapanchapadulu'' was translated into Sanskrit as ''Prapanchapadi'' by R. Sri Hari. Nirmal and Hari won the Sahitya Akademi Translation Award for these works in 1991 and 2001 respectively. Along with poetry, Reddy also composed musical plays ''Ramappa'' (1960), based on

Kakatiya dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. T ...

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''. Reddy's first film as a lyricist was ''

'' (1962) which was directed by

Kamalakara Kameswara Rao Kamalakara Kameswara Rao (14 October 1911 – 29 June 1998) was an Indian film director known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, and a few Tamil and Hindi films. Widely known as ''Pauranika Chitra Brahma'' (), Kameswara Rao directed fi ...

. Reddy later went on to write more than 3000 film songs. His last song was for the movie '' Inkennallu'' (2011) which was directed by Syed Rafi''.''

Bibliography

The following literary works of Reddy have been published: # ''Jalapatam'' (1953) # ''Navvani Puvvu'' (1953) # ''Viswageeti'' (1954) # ''Nagarjuna Sagaram'' (1955) # ''Narayana Reddy Geyalu'' (1955) # ''Ajantha Sundhari'' (1955) # ''Swapna Bhangam'' (1957) # ''Karpura Vasantarayalu'' (1957) # ''Tene Patalu'' (1957) # ''Viswanatha Nayudu'' (1959) # ''Divvela Muvvalu'' (1959) # ''Vennelawada'' (1959) # ''Geya Natikalu'' (1959) # ''Vachnakavitha'' (''Cini Kavi Manasnivali'') (1959) # ''Ramappa'' (1960) # ''Cinare Geethalu'' (1963) # ''Ritu Chakram'' (1964) # ''Sama Darshanam'' (1964) # ''Aksharala Gavakshalu'' (1965) # ''Vyasavhahini'' (1965) # ''Jati Ratnam'' (1967) # ''Adhunikandhra Kavitvam'' (1967) # ''Sampradaya Reethulu'' (1967) # ''Madhyataragati Mandahasam'' (1968) # ''Maro Harivillu'' (1969) # ''Gandhiyam'' (1969) # ''Meerabai'' (1969) # ''Mantalu - Manavudu'' (1970) # ''Mukhamuki'' (1971) # ''Manisi - Chilaka'' (1972) # ''Mandhara Makarandhalu'' (1973) # ''Patalo Emindi - Na Matalo Emundhi'' (First Volume) (1974) # ''Patalo Emindi - Na Matalo Emundhi'' (Second Volume) (1974) # ''Marpu Na Tirpu'' (1974) # ''Sikharalu Loyalu'' (1974) # ''Tejassu Na Tapassu'' (1975) # ''Taratarala Telugu Velugu'' (1975) # ''Pagale Vennela'' (1976) # ''Inti Peru Chaitanyam'' (1976) # ''Bhoomika'' (1977) # ''Narayana Reddy Natikalu'' (1978) # ''Mathaanam'' (1978) # ''Mruthuvu Nunchi'' (1979) # ''Muthyala Kokila'' (1979) # ''Viswambhara'' (1980) # ''Soviat Rashyalo Padi Rojulu'' (1980) # ''Maa Uru Matladindi'' (1980) # ''Rekkalu'' (1982) # ''Amara Veerudu Bhagatising'' (1982) # ''Nadaka Na Talli'' (1983) # ''Kalam Anchu Mida'' (1985) # ''Telugu Gazallu'' (1986) # ''Kavitha Na Chirunama'' (1988) # ''Arohana'' (1991) # ''Jathiki Upiri Swathantryam'' (1993) # ''Drukpatham'' (1994) # ''Bhoogolamanta Manishi Bomma'' (1996) # ''Matti Manishi Aakasham'' (1997) # ''Gadilo Samudram'' (1998) # ''Vyaktitvam'' (1999) # ''Dooraalanu Doosukotchi'' (2000) # ''Muchataga Mudu Vharalu'' (2001) # ''Prachatya Deshaloo Yabai Rojulu'' (2001) # ''Samooham Vaipu'' (2008) # ''Manisiga Jeevinchalani'' (2009) # ''Viswam Nlo Unnapudu'' (2010) # ''Nachoopu Repati Vaipu'' (2011) # ''Vakkuku Vayasu Ledu'' (2012) # ''Lethakiranalu'' (2013) # ''Alalerthe Adugulu'' (2013) # ''Ningikegire Chetlu'' (2014) # ''Cinare Gazallu'' # ''Prapanchapadulu'' # ''Kalam Sakshiga'' # ''Udayam Na Hridayam'' # ''Jathiya Kavi Sammelanamloni - Veevida Bhasha Kavithala - Anuvaadhalu'' # ''Telugukavitha Layathmakatha'' # ''Saptati Oka Liptaga'' # ''Moving Spirit'' # ''Rekkala Santhakalu'' # ''Jwalaga Gevenchalani'' # ''Konagotimida Geevitham'' # ''Kalisi Nadiche Kalam'' # ''Evi A Jeeva Nidhulu'' # ''That's What I'said'' (English)

Discography

Sources:

Award

Reddy won several awards for his literary work which includes the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1973 for his poetry collection ''Mantalu Manavudu'', the

for ''Viswambhara'' in 1988 and was conferred with the Sahitya Academy fellowship in 2014, the highest honour of the

Sahitya Academy The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

, India's National Academy of Letters. Reddy was also awarded an honorary

Kala Prapoorna Andhra University (IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest don ...

Andhra University Andhra University ( IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the bigge ...

in 1978, the Soviet Land Nehru award in 1982, and the

Raja-Lakshmi Award The Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation is an Indian charitable trust that promotes arts, sciences, literature, medicine, journalism, humanities and other intellectual pursuits and to honour distinguished persons in these fields. Established in 1979 in C ...

by the

Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation The Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation is an Indian charitable trust that promotes arts, sciences, literature, medicine, journalism, humanities and other intellectual pursuits and to honour distinguished persons in these fields. Established in 1979 in C ...

in 1988, "Visishta Puraskaram" of the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University in 2011. The

honored him with the fourth and third highest civilian awards,

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

(1977) and

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

(1992). He also won the

Nandi Award for Best Lyricist The following is a list of recipients of the Nandi Award for Best Lyricist commissioned since 1977: Winners References {{DEFAULTSORT:Nandi Award For Best Lyricist Lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of ...

twice for the song "Kantene Amma Ani Ante Ela?" from the movie ''

Preminchu ''Preminchu'' () is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Boyina Subba Rao and produced by D. Rama Naidu. The film stars Laya and Sai Kiran with Roopa, Murali Mohan, and Lakshmi in supporting roles. The plot follows Meena (La ...

'' (2001) and "Idigo Raayalaseema Gadda" from the movie ''

Seetayya ''Seetayya'' is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by Y. V. S. Chowdary and written by Posani Krishna Murali. It stars late Nandamuri Harikrishna son of late Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao as lead actor and late Soundarya, Sim ...

'' (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

https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/reddy.html

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, C. Narayana 1931 births 2017 deaths Indian lyricists People from Telangana Telugu-language lyricists Telugu writers Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Telugu 20th-century Indian writers People from Karimnagar district Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education 20th-century Indian male writers