Every year on September 28, PhD scholar Rajesh Patchala organises a small informal gathering to commemorate the birth anniversary of renowned Telugu poet Gurram Jashuva. This year, an ordinary post on Facebook suggesting a gathering of Jashuva’s readers has morphed into the ‘Gurram Jashuva Literary Fan Club’. “It was all organic response from readers who admire his poetry,” says Rajesh, who was introduced to Gurram Jashuva’s poetry at a similar event when he was a Masters’ student at Nagarjuna University.  

Gurram Jashuva (or Joshua) is an eminent Telugu poet, known for his literary works like Gabbilam and Firdausi. Often referred to as Mahakavi, or Navayuga Kavi, Jashuva is  a Sahitya Akademi awardee. He has also received the Padma Bhushan, and has been conferred the honorary doctorate of Kala Prapoorna by Andhra University. 

Jashuva was born on September 28, 1895 in Vinukonda of Guntur district. His mother belonged to the Madiga community, while his father was from the Golla community. Jashuva is considered to be one of the first organic Dalit voices in Telugu literature, known for the anti-caste themes in his poetry. 

Speaking at the commemoration event, Yembadi Eeshwar, a lecturer at the Porumamilla Government Degree College, said that Jashuva’s writing and thoughts were radical and innovative for his time. “Back when everyone around him was steeped in nationalist ideals and talked about freedom from colonial rule, Jashuva wrote about equally prioritising freedom from caste society,” said Eeshwar. Commenting on the brahminisation of literature, Eeshwar remarked on the importance of preserving his legacy and the context of his writings, to save them from brahminisation. 

One of Jashuva’s most popular works, Gabbilam, was performed in a solo act by Inumula Venkateshwar Rao. Gabbilam, published in 1941, is a reinterpretation of Kalidasa’s Meghaduta, a Sanskrit text. While in Meghaduta, a yaksha sends a message to his lover through a passing cloud, in Gabbilam, a poor, hungry Dalit man sends a message to a Hindu deity through a bat, as he isn’t allowed inside the temple. 

“Most people have only heard of Gabbilam, but his work is very wide-ranging. We wanted to find an excuse to delve into them again, which is why we conducted an essay contest,” says Rajesh, who had invited entries under the topic ‘Jashuva’s Writings - A Humanitarian Perspective’. Prizes for the contest were announced on Friday at the commemoration event at the CSI Conference Hall in Vijayawada. 

“Most of the entries were in Telugu. We got to see some insightful commentary on the contemporary socio-political situation through Jashuva’s writings,” says Rajesh. He hopes that the fan club, which is mostly a group of strangers who have met on the internet over their love for Jashuva’s poetry, will continue to keep his literary legacy alive through regular meetings and discussions. 

While the birth anniversary was also observed by the state government, with MLAs and MPs honouring various Telugu writers and artists apart from honouring Gurram Jashuva himself, his great grandson Gurram Pawan Kumar, who was present at the event, lamented that his legacy was slowly being erased in his own hometown. “The Jashuva Kala Pranganam was a wonderful open-air theatre, it used to be a popular venue for theatre in the past. Now it lies neglected. I recently found out that the government plans to raze it and replace it with the Village Secretariat,” rues Pawan Kumar.