HYDERABAD: In the literary world, those who already have got an opportunity seem to be getting more while the newbies barely get featured. “This kind of discrimination prompted me to launch a platform which would be a level-playing field for all Telugu women writers,” says Jyothi Valaboju, who has come up with an anthology of short stories by 111 Telugu women writers across the globe.
The book titled Kathakeli will be formally launched on Sunday at Tyagaraya Ganasabha between 3 to 5 pm. Incidentally, the book has also got an entry into Telugu Book of Records with the citation reading as ‘JV Publications, Hyderabad, has published a rare book KathaKeli, a short story anthology consisting of 111 inspirational stories written by 111 women writers in Telugu. This is the first time that such a large collection is published, representing so many women writers in a single book.”
Jyothi, the publisher, also happens to be a Telugu blogger, cookbook author and recipient of Vishishta Mahila Puraskaram as a woman publisher from Government of Telangana in 2019. Talking about how the book came through, she shares, “During the lockdown, I studied this trend of only some writers getting space in literary magazines and journals. I am associated with Pramadakshari, a Facebook group for Telugu literary discussions. Hearing the same sentiment being echoed, I decided to float this project and give space to writers who submit work that fits into literary parameters, regardless of their writing experience. I announced the book idea around October 2020.
Initially, I thought I will restrict it to 21 or 51 stories, but the response was overwhelming and every entry was worth publishing.” Jyothi then decided to pick 111 short stories from the entries. “The brief was simple. Any Telugu woman writer could submit a story not more than three pages or 900 words. The entries were brilliant and within our guidelines.” While the book has stories from accomplished writers such as Sharada Ashokavardhan, Potturi Vijayalakshmi, D Kameshwari, Tamirisa Janaki, most of who are above 70 years with a great body of work behind them, it also has stories by IT professionals in their twenties in the US. We used to have discussions on forums and this led to mentorship by veterans to the newbies,” Jyothi states.
She says that she was surprised how so many senior citizens learned to type long-form stories on WhatsApp. “Some of them live in Hyderabad while their children live abroad. They are not used to typing on a laptop or a computer and using email. So I let them send me WhatsApp messages. However, it was refreshing to see them being excited about this project.”Interestingly, the book has a lot of women power in the form of Padmini Bhavaraju from Achchanga Telugu app coming on board to take up the distribution of the book. Jyothi, who has published 193 books so far and will touch 200 publications shortly through JV Publishers, her publishing house, says that she got vexed with the complacent and inefficient distribution of books, especially Telugu books.
“Now with the Achchanga Telugu app, the books can be bought and delivered anywhere in the world. It’s so nice to have another woman understand our plight and join us,” she adds. Like the entries for the book, the rules are strict for the event too. Only the writers are invited, not even their families, to ensure they follow Covid-19 protocols. Kathakeli book delivery options are available on the app. It’s also available as an e-book in Kinige. The 456-page book costs Rs 300.
From accomplished writers such as Sarada Ashokavardhan to 21-year-old debut writers in the US, ‘Kathakeli’ is a book that is bringing together Telugu women of all age groups under one roof. The book is scheduled to release this Sunday in Hyderabad
—Manju Latha Kalanidhi kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com @mkalanidhi