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A man for all seasons

Sonia Chopra

When Pemmaraju Venugopala Rao takes a break from teaching basic physics at Emory University, he often recalls his cherished memories of home in Andhra Pradesh.

And then he is transported back to a magical world of art, mythology, folklore and literature.

"To remember and preserve my culture, it becomes necessary to create," says Rao, who has been writing short stories, poems and essays in Telugu for decades.

Forty years ago, his passion for literature was a hobby that he shared with the tiny Telugu community in Atlanta. But his devotion and commitment to the Telugu language and culture quickly elevated him into a staunch patron of Telugu art and literature in North America.

"To propagate the arts, that's my community service. Our literature in our mother tongue is the key to our psyche, to our identity and we need to keep it alive, to preserve it," says the 69-year-old Rao.

It's been a highly successful endeavour. When he arrived in the mid-sixties and began teaching at Emory University, Rao says there were about 2,500 Telugu families, mostly scientists, across America. Today, there are about 15,000 families.

In many ways, Rao has been a pioneer: He helped establish Telugu Bhasha Patrika, a quarterly, which he edited for over six years.

He would not stop with his own generation: He has translated modern Telugu poetry into English for the benefit of the second generation. And befitting an immigrant, he wrote extensively about Indian immigrants in America. He has also published short stories and two volumes of poetry -- Cosmic Kavita and Lokaniki Chatimpu.

Seven years ago, he accepted the position of general editor of the publications put out by the Vanguri Foundation of America, located in Houston. The foundation's aim is to provide a forum for Telugu writers.

He also organized the first Telugu Literary Symposium of America three years ago, sponsored by the Vanguri Foundation. So far, it has been held in alternate years -- in Atlanta and Chicago -- a tradition they intend to maintain as they hope writers all over the country will participate.

Rao has also designed and taught courses on science in ancient and modern India, science and religion, dance as embodied knowledge in Indian context, Hinduism, Indian mythology and culture and the philosophy of yoga, at Emory University.

He does not find it odd at all that he is immersed in science and literature. "They both ask deep, intimate questions," Rao says.

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