Stilling the songs of rebellion

Gadar, a revolutionary balladeer, fought for Telangana's freedom through his songs. Born Gummadi Vittal Rao, he adopted the name Gadar in 1971 when his song ‘Apuro rickshaoda’ became popular. He was a student of Osmania Engineering College, but had to drop out due to the feudal setup in Telangana. He created Jana Natya Mandali to speak of rebellion, revolution, equality and freedom. In 1975, he was arrested during Emergency and in 1984, he went underground. In 1997, he was shot five times, but survived. He continued to fight for Telangana's freedom until his passing in 2023.

January 30, 1948 - August 6, 2023

Covering his bare torso with a gongadi (woollen blanket), carrying a stick, tossing his long hair in the wind and singing the song of revolution; Gadar is a household name in the Telugu-speaking States. When he first sang ‘Aapuro rickshoda’ he had thick black hair on his head; five decades later when he sang ‘Podustuna poddu meeda nadustuna kaalama, poru Telanganama’ the hair had turned platinum white. But the spirit remained intact. The ballads he adopted, composed and sang challenged the existing social order.

Born Gummadi Vittal Rao, he had to drop his name Rao as his class teacher in Toopran village removed it saying he had no right to use the name. “I adopted the name Gadar when my song ‘Apuro rickshaoda rickshaenta nenuosta’ became popular where I modified the song ‘apuro bandoda’ in 1971,” said Gadar when he met this reporter. 

Pronounced ‘Ghadar’, he chose the name that referred to the party founded by expatriate Indians in 1913 in the US for overthrowing British rule in India, that harked back to the 1857 fight for Indian Independence. When B. Narsing Rao made Maa Bhoomi in 1979, that showed the plight of the landless peasants in Telangana, it was Gadar’s voice that encapsulated the defiance and fight against the rulers. 

Narsing Rao gifted B.R. Ambedkar’s ‘Annihilation of Caste’ to Gadar and that shaped his thinking. ’Bandenka bandi katti’ was a composition of Bandi Yadagiri during Telangana Rebellion in 1946-48. The song against a feudal lord was modified by Gadar to his purpose for the movie targeting the Nizam and the British.

India had become free but the feudal setup in Telangana region remained and Gadar had to drop out of the Osmania Engineering College where he was a student between 1968-69. He had scored 76% in his Intermediate exam at the Saifabad Science College to get the seat. After dropping out, he flirted with arts and artists creating Jana Natya Mandali that spoke about rebellion, revolution, equality and freedom from want. 

His past came to haunt him when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared Emergency in 1975 and Gadar was bundled into an interrogation facility ending his career as clerk in Canara Bank in Marredpally.