Gogu Shyamala's Poem

ABSTRACT Gogu Shyamala is a leading activist and writer in Telugu in Telangana, championing the cause of the women and the children in the subaltern communities. Her collection of short stories ‘Enugantha Tandrikanna Ekulabuttantha Tallinayam’ in Telugu appeared in 2013. The translation of the short stories marked a new beginning in the subaltern aesthetics of post-colonial era; as they deal with the saga of the subjugated women and the children in the productive communities. Shyamala deftly explores the cultural conflicts of the subcontinent and establishes that ‘woman’ can regain her lost glory with modern awareness and the child can blossom with the ‘mother’s care’, shattering the artificial obstacles of caste humiliations and social

Of the twelve stories, six stories portray the tortuous and devaluated saga of the ‘woman’ as ‘Mother’. Shyamala presents the woman protagonist in the six stories as a human being wading through the patriarchal obstacles in domestic arena and caste obstacles in the social arena, yet remains a courageous human for the family and the community at large. The other six stories portray the subjugated but intuitive child characters that are also under the care of ‘woman’ as their mother. The narration of these stories is at times intrepid, jovial and captivating with full of aroma from the bucolic background. The image of the ‘woman’ and her endurance in facing the odds in the backdrop of the caste ridden hostile social environment is parallel to none. The enduring patience of the ‘woman’ is further tested by the similar, if not fully hostile, environment of domestic life. But her love for her progeny surpasses all the human limits and sets a new landmark for the mothers of the modern times. The writer takes the image of the ‘woman’ in these short stories to the status of nobler human