Garimella Satyanarayana (14 July 1893 – 18 December 1952) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and freedom fighter of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, India. He influenced and mobilised the Andhra people against the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

with his patriotic songs and writings, for which he was jailed several times by the British administration.

Early life

He was born in a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family to Venkatanarasimham and Suramma in Priya agraharam village in

Narasannapeta Narasannapeta is a census town in Srikakulam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Narasannapeta mandal in Srikakulam revenue division. 43 villages are there under the administrative division of Narasan ...

taluq of

Srikakulam Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census, it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaan ...

district in 1893

Career

Garimella Satyanarayana was born in a poor family in Gonepadu village, near Priya agraharam, in

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

Srikakulam district Srikakulam district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located in the Uttarandhra region of the state, with its headquarters located at Srikakulam. It is one of the six districts, located in the extreme northeastern direction ...

in 1893. His parents were Venkatanarasimham and Suramma. Satyanarayana is identified by his famous song - "మాకొద్దీ తెల్ల దొరతనం " (We don't need this white rule). He himself used to sing this song. This particular song was a popular in the households of Andhra Pradesh during the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He was helped to study by a kind lawyer, called Kannepalli Narasimha Rao and finish graduation (BA). He worked as a clerk in collector's office of

Ganjam Ganjam is a town and a notified area council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Brahmapur, Odisha, Brahmapur, one of the major city of Odisha, is situated in this district on the eastern coastline. Geography Ganjam is located at ...

district and as a teacher at a high school in

Vijayanagaram Vizianagaram, also known as Vijayanagaram, is a city and the headquarters of the Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapa ...

. He gave up his studies by the call of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

to participate in Non-Cooperation movement. During this time, he wrote his famous song ''Maakoddee Telladoratanamu'' for which he was jailed in 1922 for one year. After the release from Jail, he continued his participation in the movement by singing songs in villages. For this he was sentenced for two and half years rigorous imprisonment. His entire family (wife, father and grandfather) died when he was in jail. He also ran a restaurant called Kalpaka Vilaas. He died in a destitute state on 18 December 1952 after spending several years in poverty.

Works

* Swaraajya geetamulu (1921) * Harijana paatalu (1923) * Khandakaavyalu, baalageetaalu (1923) * Telugu translation of the Economic Conquest of India by

Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya (24 November 1880 – 17 December 1959) was an Indian independence activist and political leader in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was also the first governor (1 November 1956 – 13 June 1957) of Madhya Pradesh ...

. * Telugu translation of "

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...

" and "Naandiyar" from Tamil. * Telugu translation of "Tallikota" from Kannada. * An English poem "Heart of the Nation," * Several articles in various daily and weekly journals like ''Grihalakshmi'', ''

Krishna Patrika Krishna Patrika is an Indian Telugu-language newspaper. It was founded in 1902 by Konda Venkatappayya and Dasu Narayana Rao as a weekly magazine. Mutnuri Krishna Rao was the editor of the publication from 1907 until his death in 1945. History ...

'', ''Aanandavani'', ''Dhanka'', ''

Andhra Prabha ''Andhra Prabha'' is a Telugu-language daily newspaper in India, circulated primarily in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Founded on 15 August 1938, by Ramnath Goenka under the Indian Express Group, it has become one of the longest-running Telug ...

'' and ''Bhaarati''.

Maakoddee Tella doratanamu

An English translation of his most famous poem Maakoddee Tella doratanamu in folk song format: We don't want this White rule - Garimella Satyanarayana We don't want this White man's rule O God We don't want this White man's rule We don't want this .... 2 Stalking on our lives Robbing us of our honour We don't want this .... 2 Stalking on our .... (1) The eighteen lamps have doused off, but A handful of rice is hard to come by Throws dirt into our mouths Wants us to fight with his dogs to eat our food We don't want this .... 2 (2) For taxes he's devised ways Sells toddy and liquor Looted Chattels and belongings Drunken (husband) snatched that mother's wedding jewellery. Threw dust in to our eyes Pushed us close to our grave We don't want this .... 2 (3) Brought in Courts, created political parties. Murdered the charitable character Raised thirst for money Raised bad thoughts Showing off his style he wooed us We don't want this .... 2 (4) Brings on the Gandhi cap Don't come says Don't come to school like this Takes away the cap and moves on It is rebellion against State It is all over the Country We don't want this .... 2 Stalking on our .... We don't want this White man's rule

Sources

#Biographic sketch #Review on Heart of India #Garimella Satyanarayana Article # GarimeLLa gEyAlu : Editor - parakAla paTTABirAmArAu,1992, Visalandhra Book House #Telugu sAhitya samIksha - Dr. G. Nagayya, Navya Parisodhana Pracurana, Tirupati, 1985. #AdhunikAndhra kavitvamu - Dr. C. Narayanareddy, Visalandhra,1993. #Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh - Prof. Mamidipudi Venkatarangayya, Vols I-IV, 1965. #Andhrula Sankshipta Charitra - Etukuri Balaramamurthy, Visalandhra. #Naa Vaajnmaya Mitrulu, Kameswarrarao Tekumalla. #Noorguru Telugu Pramukhulu, M.L. Narasimharao.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satyanarayana, Garimella 1893 births 1952 deaths Telugu poets Indian independence activists from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian poets People from Srikakulam district Indian male poets Poets from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers People from Uttarandhra