Mehak Hyderabadi’s stories spread the fragrance of Urdu in Telugu
The Hindu
The former scribe’s recent Telugu translations include anthologies of Saadat Hasan Manto’s Urdu works
Padullaparthy Venkata Suryanarayana Murthy, known by his pseudonym Mehak Hyderabadi to readers, has been bridging thecultural gap through translations. The former senior journalist with 35 years of experience in Telugu print media has been enriching readers with the ease and simplicity of his translations of Urdu stories into Telugu.
In a span of six years (2016-2021), Mehak has brought out six books - translations of two volumes of Jeelani Bano’s Urdu stories (with Telugu titles Guppita Jaare Isuka, Antaa Nijame Chepta), and Jeelani Bano’s autobiography Main Kaun Hoon as Terichina Pustakam. What made Mehak’s journey as a translator gratifying yet sapping, both emotionally and mentally, were the two recent anthologies of celebrated Urdu writer-playwright Saadat Hasan Manto’s stories — Saadat Hasan Manto Kathalu (Volume 1, 27 stories) and Manto’s Classics, and Amrita Pritam’s much-acclaimed novel Pinjar’ into Telugu
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.