KADAPA: This 73-year-old woman’s transformation from a doctor to a writer, who authored five books in a row, stands as a great inspiration for many people in society. Dr Vemireddy Sulochana Devi, wife of Dr Putha Bali Reddy from Kadapa has left her four-decade-old illustrious medicine profession following a road accident in 2006 and dedicated her free time to author and translate books.
She started her literary work by translating Sri Mahabharata Nama Sarvasam from Telugu to English suggested by the book author Putha Pulla Reddy when he visited her home one day.
She says she was overwhelmed by the thought of translating the book but at the same time, she was short of confidence. “Initially, I wrote a few pages and showed them to Pulla Reddy. He was happy with my work and gave me the green signal to translate his work. The book was my first literary work that was published in 2013 in Kadapa,” she said. Sulochana Devi says her father V Venka Reddy, who was a Telugu lecturer at VR College at Nellore inspired her and instilled the thought of translating books. “When I was in class 3, my father used to appreciate my handwriting. On few occasions, he used to give his ghostwriter work to me to write on paper while he used to dictate the creative content,” she shares.
“The examination result of my PUC fetched me a seat in Kurnool medical college and completed my MBBS degree in 1973,” Sulochana Devi said. In 2006, she met with a car accident fracturing her right hand. After a prolonged recovery, she could not continue her medical practice and started reading books mostly on Indian history.
The second book of Sulochana Devi was titled The Brief History of India (up to 1947) published by Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd in 2015. The third book was India in Brief 1947-2014 which was published in 2017 by Authors Press, New Delhi. The fourth book was Brief History of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana before and after bifurcation which was published in 2021 by Nilkamal publications, Hyderabad.