Meet Our Telugu
Telugu sevalo Mauritius Sanjiva

“Jai Jai Jai Telugu Tallli”, that is the sentence any conversation with Pandit Sanjiva Appadoo’s begins, whether in Mauritius or Andhra Pradesh or wherever and whenever he meets a Telugu person. This interview is a result of several Yahoo chats I did with him during last one year. I always wanted to know what keeps him going on, having personally watched his activities in the beautiful island of Mauritius towards promoting anything that sounds Telugu. I have had the opportunity to stay in Mauritius for over a month and travel along with him, participate in person in all activities he is passionately involved in. After I came back to India, he began to ask if I can find a book on muggulu. I was not surprised when he asked for literature on muggulu. But I thought, why did he ever want a book on muggulu? I came to know later on that he has now has mastered the art of drawing muggulu and even teaches to anyone keen on learning. What surprised me was when he told he has invented his own muggu instruments – 2 to 3 instruments to his credit.

You see him drawing muugulu, and teach vedam at several Telugu temples in Mauritius. He also heads the Telugu Department at the Secondary School, Mahatma Gandhi Institute. He conducts the Telugu programs on the Mauritius Radio, encourages children, elders to speak in Telugu, and teaches the language and culture to successive generations. Whether it is through his translations from Telugu to Creole, of the puja & vachanamu at the temple in St.Pierre (the famous Vishnu Mandiram), or rendering of maa telugu talliki poem, Pandit Sanjiava embodies telugudanamu (teluguness, telugu identity).

TLS Bhaskar: Why muggulu? Why are you so keen to learn the art of drawing muggulu?

Pandit Sanjiva Appadoo: We, Mauritian Telugus, are fascinated by anything that signifies Telugu culture. Muggulu are integral to our Telugu culture. Although we know about muggulu, I thought I should invent a new style, which is much simpler to teach other Telugus in Mauritius. Hence, I designed a tool that can help me hold the chalk pieces of different colours for drawing muggulu. Surprisingly, whenever I travel to Andhra Punya Bhoomi in search of literature on muggulu, people respond saying why I am so keen on muggulu.

TLS: What constitutes Telugu culture for a Mauritian Telugu?

PSA: As you are aware, our forefathers have come to Mauritius Island as early as 1830s to work as indentured labourers on sugarcane fields, and most of them are illiterates. Telugu bhasha, ramabhajana, simhadri appnnah puja, and ammoru pandaga have been very important for generations of Telugus on the island. We have been trying to preserve these and promote actively on the island. But, as we begin to establish some form of linkages with Telugu punya bhoomi (state of Andhra Pradesh) from 1970s onwards, there is a visible change in what constitutes Telugu culture. We now know about all the festivals, puja vidhanamu etc. We try to follow the systems and procedures in festivals and temples as that is followed in the punya bhoomi. The Government of Mauritius and the Mauritius Andhra Maha Sabha (MAMS) play vital role in promoting Telugu culture on the island. However, the Telugu temple has been a focal point of our culture.

TLS: Why is the Telugu Temple so important for Mauritian Telugus?

PSA: Temple has played an invaluable role in the lives of the Telugus in Mauritius. They have been the centres of our religious and cultural activity. The idea of building temples evolved out of the labourers’ prayers, dramas, and songs in praise of God. With the establishment of temples/shrines on the plantations, each language group started to have their own distinct form of worship and practices. I was very fortunate to receive archakatvamu training from the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam in 1991 in the Vaikhanasa Agama system of conducting the rituals. The priests were very helpful and wondered about my travel all the way from Mauritius to Tirumala.

TLS:Do the current Telugu generation passionate about their ancestral origins and Telugu culture?

PSA: We are all very proud of our ancestral motherland. We did not have the opportunity to establish and maintain linkages with it and in the process we had difficulties in promoting our culture here. I would say the youth are not as fluent as our generation in conversational Telugu. In fact, most of the Mauritian Telugus are not comfortable with it as we consider Creole as our mother tongue and Telugu bhasha as our ancestral language. But, the youth are passionate about every aspect of Telugu culture, and for us it’s our religion. They participate enthusiastically in all the cultural activities. As mentioned already, the Mauritius Anhdra Maha Sabha, our government, our temples, cultural organisations is committed to preserving Telugu culture on this island among successive generations.

TLS: Did you ever travelled to Andhra Pradesh in search of the roots? Tell us your experiences.

PSA: I was curious to find out the roots and see if there are any living members of my ancestral family in the punya bhoomi. I heard from my father and grandfather that we belonged to lanka veedhi in the present day Vizianagaram town. I travelled there with excitement and hope to find some clues. After a desperate search, I could not. I took some matti in a cloth, carried it all the way to Mauritius and placed it in my pooja gadi. I have no regrets in not finding my ancestral family. I wish I could have though. Puja gadi picture.

TLS: One of the prominent contributions by you is the Telugu flag. How did you come up with the idea of having one?

PSA:Andhra Avatarana Dinotsavam is celebrated by all Telugus in Mauritius with pride. It was in 1983 that I took some of the important symbols of Telugu culture and put them in form a flag that we can hoist at every Telugu occasion. After much discussion and subsequent approval by MAMS, we first hoisted it at the Krishna Mandiram in Quatre Bornes town. The flag brought a cultural revolution and Telugus began to take pride in their culture and were looking at newer ways to synergise their passion towards telugudanamu.

TLS:One of your recent works is a drama on Telugu emigration to Mauritius. How was the experience?

PSA:Our life on this island, irrespective of the generation, revolves around this one travel on the ship that our fore fathers made. The literature on crossing the kalapani is immense and the experiences are well documented in colonial records. My intention was to make a drama that depicts both the hardships faced by our fore fathers, both, during the travel and after re locating on the colonies. The drama talks about their endurance, unity, struggle to survive. I involved lot of youth in this drama and they have worked relentlessly day and night to make it a land mark performance.

TLS:What are your recent activities in promoting Telugudanamu?

PSA:Promoting Telugu culture on this island has been my single cause. I am trying to create interest on it through art now. My 504 drawings on peepal leaves on Telugu culture and spirituality depict various aspects of telugudanamu. It is being considered by Guinness World Records for drawings depicting one aspect of culture.

* T.L.S.Bhaskar is the founder of TeluguDiaspora.com. He is currently involved in documenting the first ever reader on Telugu Diaspora. You may want to contact him at +91-9848515151.