IPPA CHETTU NEEDALO…
(In the shade of Ippa Tree)
Memoirs of an I.A.S.
Officer by Shrinivasulu Dasari
‘Ippa
Chettu Needalo…’ (In the shade of Ippa Tree) (Madhuca Long Folia / Indica) is
penned by Shrinivasulu Dasari. His rich experiences, as Senior IAS Officer and
later as Principal Secretary in many tribal agency areas which include Adilabad
to Vishakhapatnam are compiled to enrich the literary vistas in this book.
His memories have shaped up as Narrative
episodes. They are truly based on ground realities. Every character is molded
on factual meticulousness, leaving no place for fictious characters. In fact,
it proves to be rope walk task for an author to balance between two worlds of
Adivasis and main stream societies. The writer in his foreword says that he
saved and stored his experiences and memories as arrows in quiver to pick them up as per the need whenever the
occasion arise to dwell them out to share them with others. When his daughter,
an IAS trainee in 2010 toured in the area of Utnoor ITDA, he recollects, he was
touched to know that the Gonds remembered him and his services, even after
twenty five years. Shrinivasulu Dasari took it as his responsibility to
document those memories rather experiences.
He
also remembers the last decades of 80’s, working in Vishakapatnam and later in
Medak District as Joint Collector. Those were very turbulent memories. He
stored them all in his cerebral storage.
Shrinivasulu
Dasari tried his hand in creative writing when he was a student. That quality
was revived, when he decided to write about the agency areas and tribal people.
He revisited the time and areas with a lapse of twenty five years with the same
accuracy and clarity. It was decided to write the experiences and Andhra Jyothi
‘Navya’ weekly magazine consented to publish. They were published for long 36
weeks in a series. The episodic chain of writing had begun. It was a pleasant
positive pressure for the author. He cherishes the memories of how those
articles were reached out to common man to politicians and to literate
intelligentsia.
Shrinivasulu
Dasari intended his writing to reflect the Adivasi line of thought and their
life styles as they form very important crux of Telangana way of life. So, he
planned his writing area wise and he succeeded in his intentions. Thus his
writings included the areas like Karimnagar and Adilabad. In those years,
1970’s, when no government official shown any interest to work in these areas,
Shrinivasulu opted to go there to work with tribal people. Beyond the official
and governmental domain and jurisdiction, he wanted to initiate an
understanding between the main society and Adivasi Society.
Unlike
other memoires, these kinds of writings include and involve the controversial socio-economic,
political and cultural insights in themselves very naturally. Maintaining a
balance between human compassion and political controversies he maintained a
writer’s creative critical ability to his chosen genre. Throughout, he remained
as a writer; seldom the officer recorded or documented the memories.
Shrinivasulu Dasari excelled himself in recording his alphabetical memories as
a compassionate human being. It needs greater strength. Being an officer with
authority, and at the same time, to delink oneself with that dominating
ascendancy is not easy. Shrinivasulu Dasari could attain it with ease. This
humane quality made his narrative episodes as heart rendering writings. The
characters like Jangu Patel and Rajeshwari are some to mention, where the
writer molded the real life people as to make them characters with exact real
life portrayal. It needs the warmth of humane compatibility. He deals with the
piercing issues of naxal dealings within Adivasi areas and Governmental
miscalculated policies in forest areas with a factual iron pen. It is a
commendable task for government officer. Shrinivasulu Dasari maintained the
balance very perfectly.
It is a stupendous task who is placed in
the hierarchy of bureaucracy with the set forth work patterns, he maintained a
balance between an officer and an empathetic human being.
He conversed with
Gonds in their language, Gondi. He tried very hard to extend a helping hand to
tribes whenever he was in higher positions. All his episodes tell about the
situations in tribal areas and tribe’s efforts to explain and convince the
officers. Shrinivasulu Dasari always tried to look into the problems from the
point of view of an Adivasi. He strived to help out the Adivasis who are
expressed from generations, and very particularly he wanted to sort out a
solution within the lines. His position as higher cadre officer helped a lot in
this venture. The long journey of his official duty helped him to empathize
with tribal living. He could visualize the ethics of tribal world and their
humane angles. That is the reason, which makes him to plan for ‘Samvedana 2’,
in future, where he could narrate some more experiences.
- Prof. Guduru Manoja
Palamuru University
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