The bell tolls again. Yet another active, affable, senior veteran member of the Jillellamudi fraternity, Brother P.S.R. Anjaneya Prasad is lost in the fleeting flow of time. Very versatile, dynamic individual who ever made fruitful and significant contributions is no longer with us. That is an irreparable loss to us all.
To recall his association with AMMA and JILLELLAMUDI is very long, fruitful and wrought with much distinction. He has been with us ever since the early days of the 1960s and continued likewise in a very fertile and purposive role with many ramifications in diverse aspects.
He hails from a very distinguished family that has a noble lineage of scholars, savants, as also spiritual stalwarts. To cite one such, he is the younger brother of the well renowned Kulapathi, savant and an erudite scholar who later has been elevated as the Pontiff of Kurthalam Peetham.
He is a man of letters and learning, with numerous books to his credit on AMMA and JILLELLAMUDI. His efforts in this direction were long, consistent, and much beneficial to the devotee children of AMMA. He rendered yeoman service as the Editor of our magazine VISWAJANANI for well over two decades. His editorials were well received and much savored with committed, appreciating readers. He brought out an abridged version of ‘MAHODADHI’, for the facility of the readers, for daily committed reading.
Behind his scholarship and literary output, there is a subtle fact that merits a mention in this tribute. AMMA, while chewing the betel leaf, called for a spittoon. Our Brother P.S.R.Prasad outstretched his hand with deep devotion, graced with AMMA’S spittle in his hand which he swallowed in utmost reverence. AMMA christened him as the “EE STHANA KAVI” in abounding grace. Soon his literary output has become prolific, diverse, and varied on multiple subjects both in the magazine VISWAJANANI and other multiple publications well acclaimed.
Also, he was transformed into an orator conducting many academic, literary conferences on various platforms. Virtually he has become the poet laureate of Jillellamudi, with scintillating performances in multiple forums, reciting and rendering poetry extempore quite in tune with occasion, the times and needs. In this mode, he had a long tenure of more than five decades, touching sixty years.
Along with all this literary activity he is deeply humane. He shared his home and hearth very generously with all the fraternity, feeding all those that reached his doorstep, with a variety of delectable pickles along with the staple fare which gave a delicious taste. He took it upon himself the onus of catering and feeding the patients admitted in the Guntur General Hospital joyously with alacrity.
He encouraged quite a few others to write on AMMA with valuable suggestions. Here, I am obliged to mention he released the book titled ‘AMRUTHA ABHISHEKAM’ that contained the Telugu rendering by Brother A. V.R. Subramaniam of the English articles from VISWAJANANI. Brother PSR took the entire responsibility on himself and released the book in due form.
Although he is not directly responsible, he shared a keen interest in the English articles with a sense of generous appreciation and insight which added to my comfort in this respect. He supervised all the printing and publication work with dedication whoever is the author and whatever be the language. Brother PSR took upon himself the singular care and responsibility of bringing out varied, multiple publications of AMMA. In all such literary gatherings and book releases he conducted the same with fanfare, adding delight and spice to the process, the readers, and the author.
With all these qualities, above all he is generous to the core, ever ready to spare funds in serving the cause of AMMA and JILLELLAMUDI. He was not merely spared BRO.PSR. personal monies for the literary output on AMMA but adored those who served AMMA. With personal funding he honored each one of them with affection, care, and concern. Among these functions of honoring these functionaries, mention needs to be made of Kanakabhishekam to Vasundhara Akkayya and Brother Ravuri Prasad which have become the highlights, well cherished and beamed over the internet, receiving many hits from the readers and the viewers.
In this aftermath, all the members of our fraternity were contemplating a SWARABHISHEKAM in his honor and prestige, to be scheduled on 16th February, one day before the DHANYA ABHISHEKAM of NANNAGARU this year. Time deprived us of this opportunity, snatching him away from us. Even so his memory and the valuable role of PSR over the decades is well reminisced by one and all always.
Another facet of his persona he has also been close to NANNAGARU and released the SATAKAM of one hundred poems on ANASUYA SWARA extolling NANNA GARU in due esteem and reverence.
Presumably, this is precisely the reason that the concept of DHANYA ABHISHEKAM has been put forth, finding an eventful, fruitful, much beneficial outcome through Brother PSR. Now this function has taken the pride of place with huge gatherings and yielding the staple resource for feeding and maintenance throughout the year. This is the highest honor and the rarest posture that AMMA graced to be conferred on
Thus Bro.PSR, excelled as a human being, scholar, litterateur, devotee, serving the SVJP in countless ways and ever ready to serve sparing his resource and person. Not heeding or stopping at any point, any moment, always smiling and cheerful.
Pray AMMA grant his soul eternal peace. Pray AMMA bestows the fortitude on the family members to forge ahead in life in his absence.