I went furniture shopping with my family on Sunday, and it taught me Sigmund Freud’s theory of rationalization. I wrote about this takeaway in Telugu originally here: ఎత్తైన సోఫా (A Tall Sofa). AI-assisted English translation is also available at the same link. Going forward, I’m planning to write my blogs this way - expressing myself freely in Telugu and using AI to assist with the English version. People can use Google Translate as well, but it often messes up the meaning. So, AI-assisted translations for now. I’ll mention AI assistance when used. These letters will not be AI-assisted (except for grammar checks).
I also tried my hand at drawing for this blog. I borrowed the sofa and the character from two different cartoons by Jayadev.
If you like cartoons, you should check out Jayadev Cartoons. Most of them are still relevant.
Completed three months of horse-riding classes. I have to give it a break now. I took my parents on the last day and got some pictures clicked. 😁
June 2nd was Telangana State Formation Day. My friend Anusha performed the title role in a play, “Golla Ramavva.” She performed the role of a 70-year-old and reminded us of her grandmother through her performance. The play was written by former Prime Minister P.V. Narsimha Rao.
I start to see known faces at theatre plays now and I feel good about it :)
They are performing again on June 27th at Ravindra Bharathi.
Star of this week is: Sa Vem Ramesh. I got to listen to him at the book discussion event: Telugu Jaadalu. The book is about Telugu communities outside the Telugu-speaking states and India.
He is an anthropologist who is documenting the life, art, skills, and language of Telugu communities under the banner Telugu Neravu. I learned new dimensions of what it means to be a Telugu, because the mainstream art represents only a tiny fraction of it. I’ll leave you with one statement he made that left a deep impression on me: (paraphrased)
“ఉత్పత్తికి సంబంధించిన విజ్ఞానాన్ని ప్రచారం చేసేదే కళ.”
("Art is what propagates the knowledge related to production.")
Added this quote to My Gita.
But unfortunately a lot of classical vernacular art is being limited to religion and prayers. He taught us how there is a lot of science and knowledge related to production in art, only if we can document it. I took 3 pages of notes in this brief interaction. More about it will be in my next essay.
Sa Vem Ramesh has almost zero digital footprint. After some struggle, I found this interview on Internet Archive and some of his speeches, and this:
I hope someone documents him as well as he documents Telugu culture.