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His Life

The Copyright Controversy about Seshendra’s Books

January 27, 2012

     The Copyright Controversy about Seshendra’s Books

                                             Satyaki’s Clarification

                    

 

            Commercial advertisements cannot replace facts. This time justice will win in a court of law.

            It appears that the copyright of books of the noted poet, Gunturu Seshendra Sarma who passed away in May 2007, has become a subject of controversy.

            On December 2, 1989, Sri Seshendra transferred completely, in a will, the copyright of his corpus of entire works to his second and youngest son, Satyaki, in his own handwriting.

            When Sri Seshendra was alive, Satyaki reprinted seven books from the collection of his newspaper writings, Enta kalam Ee Endamavulu? (How long are these Mirages?) in June 1995 to Oohalo (In Imagination) in 2001. Within six months after Sri Seshendra passed away, Satayaki re-printed the modern classic, My Country, My People.

            The book-launching was organized on November 16. On 19-1-2001 (Monday) there appeared an advertisement given by an advocate in a newspaper. It was stated in the commercial that Sri Seshendra, suspending all his previous wills, delegated the copyrights of his books to Indira Dhanarajgir on 5-1-2006. That way she has subjected the issue of copyrights of Sri Seshendra’s books to controversy. In this background, here is an interview with Satyaki who owned the copyright of Sri Seshendra’s books for 17 years.       

 

                                                            ***

 

Q: What must be the reason for the release of this commercial ad, now?

Satyaki:  I was taken aback by this advertisement. She knows well that my father has bequeathed the copyrights of all his books to me in his own handwriting and based on that I re-printed a few of his books. If my father has transferred the copyright to Indira Dhanarajgir on 5-1-2006 as she claims he would have informed me. He was hale and healthy at the age of 62 when he gave the copyright to me. There was no need for him to change the copyrights in his old age which had been given to me when he was sound in his health. This betrays the conspiracy of Indira Dhanrajgir. This is a palace intrigue. That she is resorting to such things when she crossed the age of 82 brings to focus her scruples and moral stature.  

Q: Did you discuss the issue of copyrights with legal experts?

Satyaki: I discussed this issue with a few legal experts. They expressed their considered opinion that the paper that she holds is of no value and that it will not stand in a court of law.

            I didn’t go further into details as the need did not arise. In contemporary literary scenario there are a few instances where the copyrights of poets and writers belonged to their children. Sri Chalam’s copyright went to his daughter Sourees, that of Sri Sri to his son, Ramana. Maqdoom’s copyrights went to his son, Susrat. On many occasions, the poets did not write a will. But n my case, there is a clear will written by my father and also its implementation during his lifetime.

 

Q. After Seshendra’s death, his did she become Indira Seshendra?

Satyaki:  In the last 30, 40 years, she was not consistent in the use of her name. Around 1961 in  Maqdoom Mohiuddn’s poetry anthology at the end of two poems her name appeared as Ms. Indira Dhanaragir. In 1967, in the poetry collection, Pakshulu (Birds) published by my father, she appeared as ‘Indira Devi Dhanarajgir.’ In November 2006, when she published a novel, Kamotsav, originally written by Chandrasekhar Rao but published in my father’s name, she included her name as ‘Rajkumari Indira Dhanarajgir’ as copyright owner. After the death of Seshendra on May 30, when Telugu University and State Culture ministry together organised a meeting in his memory she gave commercial advertisements to the newspapers, Eenadu, and The Hindu. Here she published her name as ‘Indiradevi Seshendra Sarma.’  Again, within a few months, in another commercial advertisement that appeared on 19-11-07 in a daily newspaper, and the one on 26-11-07 she appeared as ‘Rajkumari Indiradevi Dhanarajgir.’ Thus, there is no consistency in the use of her name. It is changed based on the need and context.

 

Q. Will you give a counter to it?

Satyaki: Indira Dhanarajgir means enormous money power, and it is a well-known fact. I don’t have the financial capacity to compete with her in issuing newspaper advertisements each time. This is also well-known. But as soon as I read the ad on 26-11-07, I sent my response through an advocate by registered post. I also received the receipt for the same. I will continue the publication programme depending on the financial assistance I get. I firmly believe that copyrights are not like movable and immovable properties to be enjoyed, but an onerous responsibility to be carried out. In fact, since the year 2000, whenever contacted on phone, my father would say, “I am waiting for my train to come” or “I am sitting on the platform and waiting for my train.”

            Ever since 2002, whenever contacted between 11 and 12, the response we got was ‘He is sleeping.’ Whenever I visited him at about 11 am he used to wake up around 12/12.30, wash himself and then sit on a chair. In half-an-hour he would say that his back is aching and that he needed rest. When he is in such a semi conscious state, what papers he would have signed? Fully aware? It is for the learned people to decide.

 

Interview: Satyanveshi

                 ‘Visalandhra’ daily (literary supplement)

                   25-02-2008 (Monday) 

Seshendra : A brief biography

January 27, 2012

The literary world is aware that my father Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, eminent poet, litterateur and scholar-critic, died on 30th may 2007. Ever since he expired, there has been no mention of his parents, family members and other personal details in the news and in the articles about him. Not only this, fictional lies are being spread and using money power one shady lady is being propagated as his wife and so on. This has been causing me, as his son, a great mental agony. That is why, through this article, I am revealing certain fundamental truths to the literary field of this country and the civilized society. I appeal to your conscience to uphold truth, justice and values of our composite culture.

Seshendra Sharma’s family members are: Parents: Subrahmanyam Sharma, Ammaayamma; Wife: Janaki Daughters: Vasundhara, Revathi,Sons: Vanamali, Saatyaki. Only these two are legal heirs of Seshendra Sharma, socially and morally too.

STREET PLAY AND CIRCUS

In 1972, away from the civilized society, without the knowledge of parents and near and dear, in a far flung village called Halebeed in Karnataka a circus, a street play was staged. Let me make it clear that even after this street play my father did not divorce my mother Mrs. G.Janaki legally. He never had even a faint intention of committing such as uncivilized act. On the contrary, in all crucial Government documents he nominated my mother as his legal heir from time to time. During his long career as Municipal Commissioner with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, he retired 3 times. His first retirement came in 1975 by way of compulsory retirement for his anti estrablishment writings during Mrs. Gandhi’s emergency. His second retirement came in 1983 when the then new chief minister N.R. Rama Rao’s government reduced the age of service from 58 to 55 years. The third and final retirement in the year 1985 on attaining 58 years of age. On all these occasions, in all the government documents, my father Seshendra Sharma

Nominated my mother Mrs. Janaki as his legal heir. This is precisely why the self contradictory ‘second marriage’ is a circus enacted away from the society and Laws does not recognize this type of street plays as marriage.

LAKSHMI PARVATHI IN LITERATURE

N.R. Rama Rao, actor turned politicial married Ms. Lakshmi Parvathi in 1994 and subsequently in January 1995 he came to power for the second time. She used to act as an extra constitutional power and run the matters of government and the party. She developed her own coterie of cohorts and started dominating the party. After NTR was toppled by his own son-in-law, most of them parted ways with her. And the remaining touts left her for good the day NTR breathed his last. Ms. Indira Dhanrajgir has been playing the same role in Telugu literature over a period of more than 3 decades. In the guise of literature she developed her own coterie of lumpens with extra literary and money mongering elements – Tangirala Subba Rao, Velichala Kondala Rao (Editor, Jayanthi) Cheekolu Sundarayya (A.G.s Office, Hyderabad et al).

There are a couple of dissimilarities between these two instances. Afther the demise of NTR, L.P’s coterie of cohorts disappeared once and for all. Whereas, in Indira Dhanrajgir’s case new lumpens are entering the field with the passage of time. Squandering her late father’s wealth, she is roping in new touts. Since NTR’s wife Basava Tarakam passed away in 1984 and since he was old and sick NTR’s marriage with LP has ethical basis and is legal completely. Whereas Indira Dhanrajgir’s is neither ethical nor legal. Hence it is a street play. This is the reason why after my father’s death she has been spending money on a larger scale and indulging in false publicity and propaganda. Bh. Krishna Murthy, Sadasiva Sharma (The then Editor of Andhra Prabha: Telugu Daily, presently with Hindi Milap) Chandrasekhara Rao (Telugu lecturer: Methodist Degree College) etc. are indulging in all sorts of heinous acts to propup Indira Dhanrajgir as my father’s wife.

My father passed away on 30 May 2007. When our family was in grief and I was performing the 11 day ritual as per my mother’s wish, the above mentioned Sadasiva Sharma went to Municipal Office on 4th June, created ruckus, played havoc telling them that he is from the Prime Minister’s Office, made some ‘senion officials’ make phone calls to the officials concerned and got my father’s death certificate forcibly issued. When the entire family as mourning the death of the family head, a stranger and a lumpen S.S. – Why did he collect my father’s death certificate forcibly from the municipal authorities? Whom did he collect it for?

THREE NAMES OF THE SAME PERSON IN 3 DECADES

This is perhaps for the first time that the name of a lady appears in 3 forms at a time. Perhaps in 1970, in my father’s collection of poems “PAKSHULU” her name appeared As Rajkumari India Devi Dhanrajgir. In 2006 she published a fake version of Kamaostav (Rewritten by a muffian Called Chandrasekhar Rao). In this book her name appears as Rajkumari India Devi Dhanrajgir Prior to 1970 in Maqdoom Mohiuddeen’s (Renowned Urdu Poet) anthology of poetry ‘bisath-E-Raks’, in Urdu as well as Hindi, at the end of two poems her name appears as Kumari Indira Dhanrajgir. On 15th June 2007 A.P. State cultural affairs department and Telugu University jointly held my father’s memorial meeting. Indira Dhanrajgir hijacked this meeting by issuing her own commercial advertisements in English and Telugu dailies. In these advertisements her name appeared as Smt. Indira Devi Seshendra Sharma and again in the commercial public notices made by her in the month of November 2007 her name appeared as Rajkumari devi etc. Why does her name appear in different forms on different occasions? Will Indira Dhanrajgir explain? Will Sadasiva Sharma clarify, who forcibly took my father’s death certificate after four days of his death? Or will Bh. Krishna Murthy clarify?

If Indira Dhanrajgir has even an iota of regard, respect for or faith in love, or relation, the institution of marriage, immediately after ‘Halebeed Circus’, she would have used my father’s family sir name and her name would have appeared as Gunturu Indira. Since she was conscious of her goal during all times and conditions she did not take such a hasty and mindless step of change of her name.

WHERE DOES THE REAL SECRET LIE?

Her life is totally illegal, anti-social and immoral.

Indira Dhanrajgir’s father performed her marriage with SrikishenSeth, Nephew of the then Prime Minister to Nizam, Maharaja Kishen pershad in 1945. On the day of marriage itself Indira Dhanrajgir beat SrikeshenSeth up and ran away from him. She did not stop at that. She propagated among his friends and relatives and near and dear that he was not enough of a man and unfit for conjugal/marital life. She filed a divorce case against him and dragged it till 1969/70. Lion’s share of her husband’s life got evaporated and was sapped completely by then. His parents used to approach Indira Dhanrajgir’s father and plead with him to preavail upon his daughter, put sense into her head and see that she either lives with their son or dissolves the marriage legally so that they can remarry off their son. But Indira Dhanrajgir did not heed. Raja Dhanrajgir after getting disgusted with her nasty activities stipulated a mandatory condition in his will. He stated that Indira Dhanrajgir would be entitled to get a share of his property only if she is married.

This is the reason why INDIRA DHANRAJGIR who has no respect for the institution of marriage or regard or desire for marital life, in the guise of love and love poetry inflicted indelible blemish on the institution of marriage which is unprecedented in the literary history of the world. After my father’s death she has been indulging in more rigorous false publicity along with her coterie of touts.

KAMOSTAV: STORY OF INDIRA DHANRAJGIR’S SOUL:

With this novel Kamostav, father’s literary life came to an end for good. He did not produce literary works worth mentioning in his later phase of life. During those days he asked for my opinion on that novel. I told him clearly that it lacks the form and content of a novel; it does not have a story line, plot, sequences, characters and eventually a message which every novel gives. Hence it is a trash. Several people went to court and got its publication in a weekly stopped. INDIRA DHANRAJGIR got this very trash rewritten completely by Chandrasekhara Rao and printed it. This kind of heinous development has never taken place in the recorded history of Telugu literature till date. A writing which brought disrepute to my father in the literary field and isolated him in the society, why did she get it rewritten by somebody and publish it claiming copyright to be hers? What is her motive? What is her aim? That is why Kamotsav is INDIRA DHANRAJGIR’s biography, story of her inner soul.

SESHENDRA’S COPYRIGHTS:

My father gifted away copyrights of his entire works along with their translations to me by way of birth day gift to me on 2.12.1989. Since then I have published several of his works during his lifetime itself. Kamostav, the version that is secretly made available is the dirty work of cheapsters and lumpens under the leadership of INDIRA DHANRAJGIR. It is much worse than violation of copyrights. That is the reason why I have been reluctant to take action so far. If she and her debased henchmen try to violate copyrights of my father’s works bequeathed to me, I shall take exemplary legal action against them.

INDIRA DHANRAJGIR made 2 public notices to the effect that my father cancelled all his earlier transfer of copyrights and retransferred all his rights to her. This is a palace intrigue in the modern era in our civilized society.

WHAT DOES LAW SAY ABOUT COPYRIGHTS?

An author can transfer copyrights of his works to any one as per her/his wish. But the Copyrights Act 1957 and the Supreme Court in its various judgments has clearly stipulated a procedure to revoke earlier assignment and transferring of copyrights to somebody else subsequently. The author has to issue a notice to the 1st assignee, giving 6 months time for reply. Depending on the reply the author can take his next step. Where as in my father’s copyrights matter he did not even inform me orally of any such cancellation. INDIRA DHANRAJGIR claims that she has a typed document of transfer of copyrights signed by my father on 5.1.2006. Between 5.1.2006 and 30.5.2007, leave alone issuing a notice, he did not even inform me orally.

My father who assigned copyrights to me in his own handwriting, when he was relatively young and physically fit did not require to cancel the 1st assignment when he was totally dilapidated, almost bedridden and was counting his days. Another important aspect of the matter is that I have printed the Xerox of my father’s document in his own works as early as 1995 and have been doing so from time to time during his life time. Where as INDIRA DHANRAJGIR claims to possess a document after my father’s death and she has not made it public so far. Indira Dhanrajgir tried to get my father’s complete works published in different languages by Telugu University (Hyderabad: A.P.: India) by paying them Rs. 6 lakhs. I approached Telugu University and apprised them of facts. On the advice of legal experts, they stopped this project and returned Indira Dhanrajgir’s money to her. It is an incontrovertible fact that Indira Dhanrajgir’s document is a forged and fraudulent document which does not stand scrutiny before law. Court shall certainly award her exemplary punishment. In all societies and times literature has been social wealth/public property from time immemorial. It should not be used as a mask to grab share of parental property illegally and unethically. I am committed to this cause/ideal and appeal to the civilized society to strengthen my hands in this endeavor. INDIRA DHANRAJGIR’s younger brother Sri Mahendra Pratapgir is the lone leage heir apparent of that family and keeping him in dark, she is squandering her father’s wealth in Telugu literature for her nasty propaganda.

FATHER PASSED AWAY:

In 1997 when he suffered the 1st heart attack he was half-dead. Dr. Sudhakar Reddy, cardiologist of Medicity Hospitals (Native of Warangal, A.P.) performed angiogram and diagnosed that he had blocks in arteries and one valve was damaged completely. He advised open heart surgery. But INDIRA DHANRAJGIR averted it and got angioplasty performed. His health declined rapidly since then and was leading the life of virtually an invalid till he breathed his last. He suffered inexplicable mental and physical torture for about a decade. During the last leg of his journey he was isolated from his family completely. He was deserted by one and all in the literary field. When his younger brother passed away, his younger sister passed away he did not visit his ancestral home in his village and call on those families. He became target of jealousy and animosity in the society. He became a victim of false impression with the society that he was an aristocrat and rolling in luxuries. Whereas, he was deprived of even his native vegetarian food for decades together. As a silent and helpless witness to these painful happenings, I was subject to untold mental agony.

In the later half of March 2007 on one of my visits to him, I was aghast at his condition. His entire body was swollen. His appearance was like that of a stuffed gunny bag. I told him to get hospitalized. I told INDIRA DHANRAJGIR to rush him to a hospital. But of no avail. On 30th May 2007 at about 11 pm I got a phone call from her “Come soon/Serious” she said. As I entered at 11.15 pm “Go inside/he is no more” she said.

“”One day when swarms of lamps vanish, in the light of a lonely lamp I ask the dumb pillars.

“Can’t you liberate me from the disgust of this existence?

I ask those stand still forest flame trees

Which blossom flowers at that very place year after year” can’t you rescue me?

I ask those high roof tops and this Venetian furniture

Which every one feels are greater than me,

“can’t you rescue me from the disgust of this existence?”

All these answer in a melancholic voice

“We have been languishing since more than 100 years watching the same unchanging scenes we are older prisoners than you are” (Janavamsham: Telugu: Seshendra: Page 80-81:1993: Translated by me)

My father’s first biography (in Hindi) titled “Rashtrendu Seshendra: Ashesh Aayaam” by Dr. Vishranth Vasishth appeared in 1994. Touching upon these very sensitive aspects of my father’s life he commented in that book “SONE KE PINJRE ME PANCHCHI” (A bird in a golden cage). Alarmed and agonized by his rapidly declining health as early as June 2002, in order to bring pressure on INDIRA DHANRAJGIR, I gave a 2 cassettes long interview to Vijayaviharam of Janaharsha group. Later on when I enquired about that interview they said that in the raids conducted on their premises, they got destroyed.

I wanted to rescue my father and bring him back home when he was in good health. Alas! At last, I took him to the burial ground, laid him on the funeral pyre and consigned him to flames and returned home all alone.

G. Satyaki
S/o Late G.Seshendra Sharma
32, Janata Flats, Kanthi Sikhara Complex,
Punjagutta, Hyderabad – 500 482.
Cell: 094410 70985, 7702964402