THE BEGGAR by Dr.AMMANGI VENUGOPAL

 THE BEGGAR                                                                          DR AMMANGI VENUGOPAL   

 

About the poet

Dr. Ammangi Venugopal, a prolific writer penned the poem ‘The Beggar’ in Telugu with the title Bichchagadu. It is rendered in English by Elanaga. Dr. Ammangi wrote five anthologies of poems, some short stories, many essays and ten short stories. He is the first recipient of Sri Kaloji Narayana Rao award instituted by the Government of Telangana in 2015.

About the poem

The poem ‘The Beggar’ portrays the pathetic plight of farmers. Consisting of just sixteen lines, the poem depicts the difficulties farmers face in a touching way. The reader is moved to ponder over the problem and to find a way out.

GIST

The pitiable physical position of farmers forms an important part of the poem. Farmers' dusky eyes are dark with shadows of their struggles and sufferings. Their backs are bent with the burden. Their hands are soiled and severed and their feet bleed. Yet their ability to produce food and satisfy others' hunger remains fully active. They meet the hunger for even skies. They work hard. They help others. Yet the irony is that they don't find food for themselves, even a morsel! The complexity of contemporary culture, contaminated by commercialization, is captured in the poem in a captivating way. The way the theme is dealt with in the poem has a universal appeal!                  

 ANNOTATIONS

a) Have you sighted anyone

    With shadows in his dusky eyes?

Reference: These are the opening lines of the poignant poem, ‘The Beggar’, penned by Dr Ammangi Venugopal, a popular Telugu poet. The original Telugu poem (Bichchagadu) is translated into English by Elanaaga (Dr N Surendra).

Context: The poem projects the intense grief the farmers suffer. The pathetic physical position of farmers forms an important part of the poem.                                                                              

Explanation: A farmer today is misery incarnate. His eyes speak volumes about farmers' sorrow. The poet minces no words in highlighting farmers' woes. He opens the poem with a question. It identifies farmers with dark eyes that are filled with the shadows of their struggles. The reader, addressed as 'you', is forced to understand and sympathise with farmers. Question forms set the readers to think about the problem. Thus, the lines play a significant role in initiating the thought process effectively.

Comment: By questioning the readers, the poet seeks to draw their attention of them to the gravity of farmers’ problems. His questions evoke empathy in readers for farmers.

b) A food giver he is,

    With ability to mitigate the sky's hunger.

Reference: These are the opening lines of the poignant poem, ‘The Beggar’, penned by Dr Ammangi Venugopal, a popular Telugu poet. The original Telugu poem (Bichchagadu) is translated into English by Elanaaga (Dr N Surendra).

Context: The poem projects the intense grief the farmers suffer. The pathetic physical position of farmers forms an important part of the poem.                                                                                             Explanation: A farmer today is misery incarnate. His eyes speak volumes about farmers' sorrow. His back is bent with the burden. His hands are soiled and severed and his feet bleed. Yet his ability to produce food and satisfy others' hunger remains fully active. He meets the hunger of even skies. He works hard. He helps others. Yet the irony is that he doesn't find food for himself, even a morsel.

Comment: Farmers have an important role in producing food grains to millions of people around the world. They are the backbones of any nation’s development. Their hard work will not be ignored. .

c) His stomach is full of infinite void

Reference: These are the opening lines of the poignant poem, ‘The Beggar’, penned by Dr Ammangi Venugopal, a popular Telugu poet. The original Telugu poem (Bichchagadu) is translated into English by Elanaaga (Dr N Surendra).

Context: The poem projects the intense grief the farmers suffer. The pathetic physical position of farmers forms an important part of the poem                                                                                              

Explanation: A farmer today is misery incarnate. His eyes speak volumes about farmers' sorrow. He, the food provider to all, struggles to survive. He starves. Yet, he toils a lot day and night. His feet bleed. His eyes are full of shadows of his sad stories. His hunched back tells us how hard he works. Yet, his stomach gets no food. He is capable of feeding millions. And those millions do not include in them this farmer. How cruel the modern society responsible for this irony is!

Comment: Thus the complexity of the contemporary culture, contaminated by commercialization, is captured in the poem in a captivating way. The way the theme is dealt with in the poem has a universal appeal.

d) Have you seen a beggar

    At your threshold with severed hands?

    Brother, he is my farmer!

Reference: These are the opening lines of the poignant poem, ‘The Beggar’, penned by Dr Ammangi Venugopal, a popular Telugu poet. The original Telugu poem (Bichchagadu) is translated into English by Elanaaga (Dr N Surendra).

Context: The poem projects the intense grief the farmers suffer. The pathetic physical position of farmers forms an important part of the poem.                                                                                Explanation:  The poet addresses the reader and asks him if he has seen any beggar standing at his threshold at the time when he is eating hot rice hastily. The beggar's hands are severed and bruised. In fact, he's not the beggar, but the farmer. Here the poet wants to own up to farmers and their problems. In this way, he appeals to all the readers to show their empathy for the farmers.

Comment: The reader, addressed as 'you', is forced to understand and sympathise with farmers. Question forms set the readers to think about the problem. Thus, the reader is moved to ponder over the problem and find a way out.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

A). Dr Ammangi Venugopal's creativity is rooted deeply in the complexities and contradictions of modern life," say observers. Explain the statement, taking ‘The Beggar’ as a reference point.

Answer: Dr Ammangi Venugopal is a creative genius. He is well aware of the complexities and contradictions of modern life. The complex problems farmers today face form the central idea of his moving Telugu poem Bichchagadu. It 1s rendered into English by Elanaaga (Dr N Surendra).

Farmers, the food providers all struggle to survive. They starve. Yet, they toil. Their feet bleed. Their eyes are full of shadows of their sad stories. Their hunched backs tell us how hard they work. Yet, their stomachs get no food. They are capable of feeding millions. And those millions do not include in them those farmers. How cruel the modern society responsible for this irony is! Thus, the poem shows the complexities of current times, thus acquiring for itself universal appeal.

b). How does the poem, The Beggar describe the farmer's pathetic physical condition?

Answer: Dr Ammangi Venugopal is a creative genius. He is well aware of the complexities and contradictions of modern life. The complex problems farmers today face form the central idea of his moving Telugu poem Bichchagadu. It 1s rendered into English by Elanaaga (Dr N Surendra).

The pitiable physical position of farmers forms an important part of the poem. Farmers' dusky eyes are dark with shadows of their struggles and sufferings. Their backs are bent with the burden. Their hands are soiled and severed and their feet bleed. Yet their ability to produce food and satisfy others' hunger remains fully active. They meet the hunger for even skies. They work hard. They help others. Yet the irony is that they don't find food for themselves, even a morsel!

c), List the abilities a farmer is endowed with, according to the poem.

Answer: Dr Ammangi Venugopal is a creative genius. He is well aware of the complexities and contradictions of modern life. The complex problems farmers today face form the central idea of his moving Telugu poem Bichchagadu. It 1s rendered into English by Elanaaga (Dr N Surendra).

Farmers, the food providers to all, struggle to survive. They starve. Yet, they toil. Their feet bleed. Their eyes are full of shadows of their sad stories. Their hunched backs tell us how hard they work. Yet, their stomachs get no food. They are capable of feeding millions. And those millions do not include in them those farmers. The seeds they sow sprout as if they are their hands. Despite their physical difficulties, they never stop to produce food grains. Though they undergo a lot of turmoil, they never cease producing food for their
fellow people. That is the concern and generosity they show to their fellow humans. 

d). The poet addresses the reader as you and talks about the farmer as my farmer. Explain the significance in a paragraph.

Answer: Penned by Dr Ammangi in Telugu (as Bichchagadu) and rendered into English by Elanaaga (Dr N Surendra) as The Beggar, the poem portrays the pathetic plight of farmers. Consisting of just sixteen lines, the poem depicts the difficulties farmers face in a touching way.

The poet addresses the reader and asks him if he has seen anyone with dark eyes that are filled with the shadows of his struggles. The poet also asks the reader if he has seen anyone with his back that is bent with burden, hands that are soiled and severed and feet bleed. The poet also asks the reader if he has seen any beggar standing at his threshold at the time when he is eating hot rice hastily. The beggar's hands are severed and bruised. In fact, he's not the beggar, but the farmer. Here the poet wants to own up to farmers and their problems. In this way, he appeals to all the readers to show their empathy for the farmers. The reader, addressed as 'you', is forced to understand and sympathise with farmers. Question forms set the readers to think about the problem. Thus, the reader is moved to ponder over the problem and find a way out.

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