Dear Readers,
As you are all aware the English version of “Veyipadagalu” had to be stopped as there is an objection from the legal heirs of Viswanatha about a copyright violation.
I offer the following observations on the whole episode.
1. There is no doubt that a copyright violation has taken place for which I deeply regret and I apologise to the readers. I also apologised to the legal heir Sri Viswanatha Satyanarayana a grandson, a practicing legal luminary, who is holding the key to the gates of the royal mansion that houses great author’s writing.
2. I am an academic and never consciously and intentionally violate copyright rules
3. In this case the latest reprint of 2011 also mentions the author’s sons as copyright holders
The Telugu “వేయిపడగలు” by Viswanatha Saryanarayana published by Sri Viswanatha Publications on 10th September 2011 mentions “సర్వస్వామ్యములు గ్రంథకర్త కుమారులవి”.
ISBN: 81-86202-00-5. The sons are no longer around and the text is almost 90 years old.
4. There are Viswanatha Sahitya peethas in Peddapuram, Amalapuram, Vijayawada and Hyderabad and there was no way of knowing for me( who lived outside Andhra for 33 years) that which one of them is a family trust.
5. As the very manner of publication amply demonstrates I have not made any money in this whole exercise and my whole intention is after serving the English Muse for more than 30 years to do some service to my mother tongue and its literature.
I have never so far aimed to earn money for writing/ translating in and from Telugu literature.
We explained these things to current copyright holder who, I hoped, is not just a legal heir but a person genuinely trying to keep Viswanatha and his body of work alive through a Foundation that the family started in recent times.
I have all along been hoping that that he will understand that there is no malifide intention on my part and permit the rest of the book to be published. The procedures will be followed if and when the print edition sees the light of the day. Or the Foundation itself can publish this if they see it fit. But according to him all the abhimaanulu of Viswanatha on whose behalf he is acting are against this translation. I know of no abhimaani who can oppose the translated work however bad or mediocre it is as it enables the good literature transcend the narrow linguistic barriers. There can always be better translations and a good text can be translated by more than one person.
In the meanwhile readers may judge my genuine appreciation of Veyi Padagalu which I read 27 times since my childhood by going through the Afterword. I intended to upload this after the completion of the book.
Now we came to know that the legal heir has decided not to give permission for the completion of the book and I regret this decision and am deeply disappointed. I have no way I can fight a legal battle over this though this is the single most translation work that has given immense satisfaction both as a writer and a translator. I am sure the Kavisamrat whose work I admired would have been more graceful. The book’s copyright stipulation ends in 2034. Let’s os someone somewhere will unearth this book and publish it completely then.
In The last book on Sri Sri on avakaaya.com questions were raised on why and how of translation, I attempted to explain certain critical issues in relation to the book. Since it is an independent assessment of the novel I hope there is no violation of any kind and hence there is no harm in publishing it.
I once again express my regret and apologise to the readers I can only say this is a labour of love and read it as such with a spirit of tolerance and understanding.
Regards
Dr. Syamala Kallury