Writers have to learn to be relevant to the people around them and must learn to speak for the people the way Rachakonda Visvanatha Sastry (Raavi Sastry) did, said senior journalist and editor of Sakshi daily K Ramachandra Murthy.
Speaking after launching the Raavi Sastry Literary Trust and later giving away the first Raavi Sastry Literary Trust award to poet Ramatirtha at a function organised to mark the 95{+t}{+h}birth anniversary of the advocate-litterateur here on Saturday, Mr Ramachandra Murthy called upon the writers to carry forward the legacy of Raavi Sastry. He lauded the move to establish a trust to promote the ideals of such noted litterateurs.
He tried to picture what Raavi Sastry would have written about the people’s struggle against the proposed nuclear power plant at Kovvada.
Today’s writers have become polarised on the basis of ideology and are unable to really reflect the common man’s life and aspirations, he added.
Former professor of Andhra University and writer Chandu Subba Rao said Raavi Sastry’s writings were relevant even today and recalled how a judge advised advocates to read Raavi Sastry’s book to understand the working of the courts.
L.R. Swamy explained the aims and objectives of the trust and the process of selection of awards. Two books were released on the occasion. A presentation was made on the life of Raavi Sastry. Members of Raavi Sastry’s family and a large number of writers, poets and admirers attended.
Tributes paid
Earlier in the morning, Metropolitan Sessions Judge Nandikonda Narasing Rao garlanded the statue of Raavi Sastry on the Beach Road to pay tributes to the eminent advocate-litterateur.
He said as a litterateur Raavi Sastry gave the North Andhra dialect its due recognition by writing in it.
The judge said he felt it was a great opportunity for him to pay tributes to an eminent scholar. He flagged off a rally of students of Gayatri Vidya Parishad MLBT School at VUDA Park.
