Interview With Yandamuri Veerendranath

As I grew up, I am not reading as much Telugu literature – especially Telugu fiction. But, as a teenager I read just about everything Yandamuri wrote. I read his first novel “Rushi” when it came out as a supplicant to Swathi monthly. I immediately wrote a letter to him as soon as I read that novel – but I never mailed it. He shot to stardom a few year later with his legendary novel “Tulasi Dalam.”

One day in 1988, we flew together from Hyderabad to Madras – we sat in the same row. I could not bring myself to talk to him then because I did not want him to consider me as one of millions of fans. Rather, I wanted him to know me as one of the few people who recognized his talent very early in his career as a novelist.

Nearly 20 years later I got that chance. I started corresponding with him. The result of our e-mail correspondence is this interview. I consider this interview (done in October 2007) as one of the best interviews I conducted on TORI.

Original air date: 2007-10-05

Audio language: Telugu