HYDERABAD: Women poets from Kadapa who came for the World Telugu Conference in Hyderabad were an unhappy lot on Sunday. The 13-member contingent from Andhra Pradesh stated that they were being side-lined and ‘insulted’ by the organisers at the Indira Priyadarshini auditorium at the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University.
The Bruhat Kavi Sammelanam which is taking place at the venue has seen the participation of hundreds of poets from across the globe.
However, two poets from Kadapa - P Neelaveni and K Sumana - complained that they were being denied an opportunity to present their poems. “We are extremely happy with the arrangements and the welcome. We waited patiently for our turn on Saturday and till 11:30 pm there was no word.
On Sunday, when we went back, they told us that since you are already here, why don’t you interact with people, enjoy the show and leave,” said K Sumana. She also went on to add that they were being discriminated because they did not belong to Telangana anymore. “Literature has nothing to do with region, but the organisers do not seem to understand that,” she said.
After they waited till late in the night on Saturday, they also had to hear things like “Aadavalaki kavithalenduku (why do women need poetry?),” said Neelaveni. “We have one memento, a shawl and one certificate for all of you. Take it or leave, they told us. Is this why we came here,” she added.
Interestingly, while the poetesses from AP were allegedly discrimination at the conference venue, the CM on the same day invited the NRI contingent for a High Tea.