VISAKHAPATNAM: Encyclopaedia Brittanica was first published between 1768 and 1771. The shining volumes that adorn every library are coveted by any bibliophile worth his name. But pause a while. Ever wondered if there’s an Indian version? No need to scratch your heads for, in our State at least, we do have one. A hugely popular one at that, notwithstanding the almost pathological craze for everything English.
Familiar to the previous generation as Pedda Bala Siksha, ironically, it came into existence thanks to an Englishman.
Written for children by Chadalavada Sitarama Sastry at the instance of an Englishman by the hazy name Mestarkulu, it was a masterly compilation of wide ranging topics from mathematics to morality.
Conceptualised in 1832, it was first published in 1856 as a 78-page book under the title Balala Kalpataruvu. As it gained in popularity, it was transformed into Pedda Bala Siksha and has become a guide for even adult literacy. It was revised to keep pace with the fast developing sciences and published by one Vavilla Ramaswami Sastrulu in 1916 and ever since, many authors have revised it.
But ironically enough, after independence, instead of becoming the AP Encyclopaedia, as it deserves, it was neglected in part by publishers but mostly by successive governments, which dumped it for far less effective books.
Now in its 153rd year, Pedda Bala Siksha has got a new lease of life. Of all the versions, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that Gajula Satyanarayana’s deservedly occupies the front row.
Interestingly, Satyanarayana himself studied up to only Class VII and gained most through Pedda Bala Siksha. ‘‘But the idea to bring out Pedda Bala Siksha crossed my mind after listening to playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam’s speech at a function in 1990,’’ Satyanarayana recalls.
The fact that it took him nine years to update the book speaks volumes of the efforts he had put into the project. He got the 1030- page volume published around 2002. ‘‘The demand for it was such that we sold 1.1 lakh copies in three years,’’ he says proudly.
For all his work, Satyanarayana is not a publisher and works in a printing press in Guntur and his invaluable work goes for just Rs 116. ‘‘It’s not for profit,’’ he says humbly of his work. But he begs readers not to buy copied volumes.
It’s the least you can do for the man who has worked hard to breathe new life into a work that is historically and culturally intertwined with the State.