Nadeera, the name sounds strange but conjures up memories of a wizard of Telugu verse, to those associated with Jillellamudi for many long years. Though the name sounds like a muslim name, his original name is Navuduri Venkata Somasundara Sarma (NVS Sarma, for short), a Hindu Pradesh, and settled in Hyderabad for nearly five decades. But he adopted the name Nadeera to which he took fancy ever since he saw a Hindi movie ‘Anaarkali’, the name of the heroine in the movie and whose original name before she entered the court of Emperor Akbar, it appears, was Nadeera. Deeply impressed by the character which is an embodiment of love, he chose this name and he is known to thousands of his admirers as Nadeera.
Brahmin originally hailing from Mr.Nadeera (Extreme right) and the East Godavari DistThe Andhra team of Burrakatha party with Amma took some time in 1970-71!
Bringing the young lady, Varalakshmi aged 16, soon after marriage, he took up a job in BHEL, Hyderabad. He later gave up this job to pursue a career in scripting Telugu verses which has been most dear to his heart. He went to the extent of selling away his property in the pursuit of his chosen profession, much to the dislike of his kin.
Nevertheless, he continued with his profession braving many personal problems and difficulties. His life pattern changed for the better since his introduction to Jillellamudi. His entry into Jillellamudi makes for an interesting episode. Sri A.S.R.Murty, who was General Manager in the United India Insurance Co., in Hyderabad was very deeply impressed by Amma during his two previous visits to Jillellamudi during 1968 and 1969. Soon after his return from one of his trips to Jillellamudi in 1970, he called Nadeera, who was already known to him, to his house, gave him some books relating to Amma’s life and urged him to write verses describing Amma’s life in the form of balladeer (Burrakatha) typical of Andhra folk style of storytelling.
After several sittings with Mr. Murty, Nadeera completed the work even before he had Amma’s darshan. Later, he accompanied Mr. Murty to Jillellamudi in 1970, had Amma’s darshan, showed her the product of his effort and sought Her blessings. Amma not only gave Her approval to the script but also blessed him for a path of glory. He took along with him a team of storytellers from Hyderabad to Jillellamudi during the same year and arranged a performance by the team. His wizardry in Telugu verse writing was in full bloom during his subsequent visits to Jillellamudi and during Amma’s tour of Krishna district where he accompanied the entourage in 1973 74, the Golden jubilee year of Amma’s birthday. Words rolled out of his pen in rhythmic patterns as he went about writing in praise of Amma. Each of his songs was a pearl of beauty. The words so simple, yet very powerful driving deep into the hearts and minds of people, speak eloquently of his mastery.
An accident that struck him in 1980 resulting in loss of his left hand was a remarkable reminder of his unflinching faith in Amma and his never-say-die attitude to life. A train, which he did not notice hit him while crossing the railway track in Vijayawada around post-midnight hours, but fortunately for him he fell to the other side of the track and before he could get up, the damage was already done and he lost his left hand. He later got up, regained his senses, went out of the station, took a cycle rickshaw and first headed for a clinic with the help of the rickshaw puller and got first-aid done to his bleeding left shoulder. Proceeding to the bus station by the same rickshaw he took the next immediate bus to Bapatla from where he reached Jillellamudi and fell at the feet of Mother!
Undeterred by this incident (or accident), he continued writing hundreds of songs. Some of the political parties also got many songs written by him, made audio recordings and used them for electioneering campaigns. On the brighter side of his domestic life his children – two daughters and one son came up well in their studies, the daughters finishing Post graduation and his son completing Engineering. Nadeera, on his part, made quite a lot of money through his writings, enough to perform the marriage of his two daughters. He married off his two daughters to decently placed boys working in Hyderabad. His son moved to the US, did his MS and is presently working there. Nadeera could finally manage to purchase a house in 2004, at the fag end of his life
Another highlight of his career as a writer was the commitment given to the Chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), Mr. Karunakara Reddy who, fascinated by his writings gave an assignment of scripting several songs in dedication to Lord Sri Venkateswara (Balaji). In the meantime his health took a downward trend affecting his lungs, but Nadeera went about his job, notwithstanding his failing health.
All of a sudden he developed breathing problems on 2nd February 2007, was admitted in a local Hospital, where he was put on a ventilator. His son in the US rushed to Hyderabad on receiving this news. In the meantime Nadeera, we were told, took off the ventilator and headed for Tirupati, saying that he had to hand over songs to Mr. Karunakara Reddy. But he could not make it to Tirupati, instead he was brought home by an auto rickshaw driver in his vehicle in a semiconscious state. The subsequent medical attention in Apollo Hospital was of no avail and he breathed his last in the early hours of 14th February, 2007 at his residence.
Regrettably this news reached us unusually late (on 17th Nov, 2007). Though brother Nadeera died at the age of 74, he remained young at heart and remains immortal through his songs in offering to Amma!
We, on behalf of Mother of All and all the brothers and sisters in the Jillellamudi fold, pay our homage to this great personality and offer our heartfelt condolences to all the members of Nadeera’s family. We pray Amma to bless his family with forbearance and fortitude to face this calamity
Finally, we pay our tribute to him in his own style of writing.
Ninu Maruvaru Maa Janaali Neekidiye Maa Niwali !!