Sangha Puranam – A new sangha is born, sanghOdbhavam – 1

That’s a big city. It’s far from Andhra Pradesh. Therefore the Andhras of that city have affection for one another. Altogether, they have an excessive love for Telugu.

There is a layout in that city called Ant-Layout (ceemala pETa).  Old people tell their grandchildren that in the days before people built their homes there, there were so many ants there that one couldn’t put their foot down anywhere. However the people who come to that layout for jobs and stay in rented houses, tell each other, “The people here are tiny like ants. When they are angry, they yell but can’t do anything” and they feel happy.

In such a layout lives Ranga Rao. Rather than say that he used to do plays while studying at the university, it is fair to say that he used to compulsorily study at the university, in order to do plays. He has been bored ever since he has come to the city. Whenever he saw a raised platform, he told himself, “Why can’t this be used as a stage? If four bed-sheets are tied up, it can be used, just fine”. If there was no one around, he used to recite a dialogue or two, standing on that platform. For such a man like Ranga Rao, getting a job in that city was like a non-swimmer being thrown in a lake, like throwing a fish in the sky or dropping a villager in Bombay. Because no one in that city had any interest in showing Telugu plays.