Chilkuri Sushil Rao

Noted authors Sangishetty Srinivas and Mercy Margaret were honoured with a “Certificate of Appreciation and Recognition” by the alumni of University College of Arts and Social Sciences, Osmania University, Hyderabad.  The certificate to Sangishetty Srinivas was presented in the presence of writer and historian Dr Anand Raj Varma, former principal, Anwar Ul Uloom college who was a student of OU in 1958, and Veda Kumar Manikonda, heritage activist and  chairman of Forum for a Better Hyderabad and Chilkuri Sushil Rao, alumni of OU.  The certificate to Mercy Margaret was presented by Sangishetty Srinivas and Chilkuri Sushil Rao. The presentation of certificates took place at the 35 th  Hyderabad National Book Fair on December 31, 2022.

  Chilkuri Sushil Rao awarded a ‘Certificate of excellence’ at the 11 th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival. The recognition was for the entry of a short documentary titled “The Great Indian Tamarind Tree”.   “El peso de la quietud’ made by Manuel Ojeda of Cuba was adjudged best documentary film. ‘Kara – Star of the world’ directed by Daniel Mark Bendell of the US was given the Best documentary (Jury) award. The film festival was held in Mumbai on December 11, 2022. I would not attend the festival in person. All the entries in various categories were screened at the film festival. It was a small recognition as my entry was accepted to be screened at the festival for which I was given a ‘Certificate of excellence’. I dedicate this first small recognition to noted filmmaker B Narsing Rao. I went to his house in Hyderabad and expressed my thanks and gratitude. My thanks and gratitude to B Narsing Rao because the very first film that I watched in my life was ‘Maa Bho...

                                        Chilkuri Brothers performs Burrakatha, a Telangana traditional folk art form on Christmas day Chilkuri Burrakatha Brundham performed Burrakatha, a traditional folk art form on Christmas  day Three Chilkuri Brothers who form the “Chilkuri Burrakatha Brundham” staged a Burrakatha performance on the Biblical story of “Samson and Delilah” at a programme held on Christmas day on December 25, 2022 in Hyderabad. The performance was given for an exclusive gathering at Kowkur near Bolarum. Chilkuri Vasanth Rao was the main performer with his brothers Chilkuri Shyam Rao and Chilkuri Sushil Rao being co-performers. It was in 1978 that the first performance was given by the folk artistes. The story of ‘Samson and Delilah’ was performed at more than 60 places during the initial years itself. The places include apart from several places in Hyderabad, at ...

                       Meeting Sesanka, the man who introduced me to the internet in 1997                                   We met after 25 years. Sesanka Pemmaraju works for the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, as Director, Information Technology. At his office room, I noticed a poster. It read: It’s about PEOPLE Not just Technology. This poster aptly defines Sesanka. Let me use this space to mention something related. Comet Hale Bopp, described as the ‘The Great Comet of 1997’ was visible to the naked eye having faintly be seen and observed the previous year. It is said by scientists that the comet had previously made its appearance 4,200 years ago (source: Wikipedia).   The other details are technical with more scientific explanations but I am not going to delve more into it here. However, the comet had caught my fascinatio...

  Documentary filmmaker Chilkuri Sushil Rao’s “India’s GreenHeart Dusharla Satyanarayana” has won the Special Jury Award at the Telangana International Film Festival (TIFF) 2022 Documentary filmmaker Chilkuri Sushil Rao’s “India’s GreenHeart Dusharla Satyanarayana” has won the Special Jury Award at the Telangana International Film Festival (TIFF).  The  awards ceremony held on December 15, 2022 at Prasad Labs preview theatre at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. The award was presented to the film maker by noted lyricist Suddala Ashok Teja,   TIFF founder and film director Manjula Surooju, Telangana State Police Academy deputy director R Giridhar, IPS, Murali Dharmapuri of TIFF from Australia and other dignitaries. The 10-minutes documentary was also screened as part of the awards ceremony. A documentary on bio-degradable carry bags, the technology for which was developed at DRDO was also given the Special Jury Award and presented to scientist K Veera Brahmam. In all 10...

  When I was at Chanchalguda jail (outside), ‘Rahul & Johnson’ arrived in one of the latest cars of that time. Ch Sushil Rao blogpost: In 2002, Don Abu Salem and actress Monica Bedi were arrested in Lisbon, Portugal and extradited to India. Monica Bedi was lodged at the Central Prison for Women at Chanchalguda in Hyderabad and Abu Salem was lodged in a Mumbai jail. There was a big crowd at the Chanchalguda jail, but mostly media personnel, television camera crew, the curious local public and the police. I’d met Monica Bedi a couple of times some years ago as she had acted in a few Telugu films. This was as part of my work as a journalist. Little did I imagine that her life would take a different turn. Let’s get back to ‘Rahul & Johnson’. On the pavement and in the visitors’ open area in front of it near the Chanchalguda jail, the media waited for several hours. Would any of her family or relatives come? Anyone and everyone who remotely gave the impression that they were n...

  Ch Sushil Rao: Queen Elizabeth II has passed away. My recollections with The Royal family.  On November 20, 1983 Queen Elizabeth II visited the Holy Trinity Church at Bolarum in Secunderbad and attended the Sunday worship service there. The Queen and Prince Philip were on a visit to India and the occasion was their 36 th wedding anniversary.   I have a photograph of the Queen at the Holy Trinity Church where she was given a traditional welcome with a garland. The then Bishop-in-Medak Rt Rev Victor Premasagar, Rev B P Sugandhar, Rev Hamiltan, the presbyter of the church at that time and other senior officials of the diocese welcome the Queen. My eldest brother-in-law Vennamalla Padma Rao, as an official of the Medak diocese is standing on the extreme right of the photograph behind the Queen during her visit.   During this visit to Hyderabad, the Queen and Prince Philip attended some programmes together and in a packed schedule chose to attend some of them separat...

 It is not unusual to hear someone hum a song as they listen to music during their metro train journey, but this young man was different. He began singing loudly. Right into my ears. He was so engrossed in the song, which he seemed to like a lot, listening to it with his earphones, but he became completely oblivious to everyone else around him. He interrupted his listening. “Keep an eye on Adi,” he told him. “Look at the status on his social media and you’ll known why I am telling you that,” he explained to the person at the other end who probably asked him why. A little while into the conversation, our young man on the metro train asked his friend if he could arrange some money for him. He was not too bothered about the people around him who could hear the conversation. He hardly seemed aware that his voice was loud and audible and even if people did not want to pay attention to his conversation on the phone, the only choice they had to was move away from him. There was no space...

  How KCR won his first poll battle with tact and other stories his friends in Chintamadaka told me The odds were stacked against him. The rival seemed invincible. Seemed. He had the numbers. Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao had the verve. Something had to be done. Something had to be done quick. Elections for the cooperative bank in Siddipet were being conducted. For the young man who was making his foray into an electoral battle, a win was what he was hungry for. If he lost, he would have lost nothing because the battle lines were clear, and it was evident that he would not make it. Who stood a better chance than him was evident from the fact that his supporters were known? They would stand by him in thick and thin. The rival, of course, did not think much of the Chandrasekhar Rao's challenge. He knew him. But from the outcome of the election, he became aware that he did not know him well enough.  Chandrasekhar Rao had managed to pull all stops and be one up over him. The...

The 16-year-old tribal girl’s fate was sealed in a room with no door.  She was now like a caged bird. She would not be able to come out of the tiny room . Four walls and a slab roof were raised.   Before the last portion of a wall was constructed, she was sent into the room. That was to be the end of her contact with the world. Like others of her age, she would no longer be able to run around and play. Like others in her community, she would not be able to join in the celebratory dances. The girl was now deprived of all her freedom. The   parents and family were fine with it. The relatives were happy. The man who celebrated this most was the girl’s brother-in-law.   He had constructed what he described as a temple and the living deity was the girl. She was no idol. She was a living person, breathing. If the room was sealed without even as much as a door, where would she get air to breathe? Good question. Would she be deprived of food too? Was this not practica...

  “So, I managed to get lodged in the jail,” Rajappa told me.  Sam Rajappa's entire focus in life at that point of time was to get jailed. He was eager to enter the prison. And stay there within its four walls, sacrificing his freedom.  Who would want to end up in jail? If there are life goals, this one is not included in anyone’s list. It sure does not figure in the bucket list of anyone. In Sangareddy district of Telangana, there is an old jail where you can pay and spend time in jail and experience the spirit of ‘lack of freedom’. But that is a luxury. You ask for it. Get it. ‘Jail tourism’ is promoted so as to give people a chance to spend time in the decades old structure. If a jail cell is what one gets to see in movies and form an opinion about, this prison gives up the atmosphere because it originally was a jail before a new building was constructed. We are not talking about jail tourism here. It was about breaking into a jail itself. Sam Rajappa worked for th...

US President Bill Clinton's visit to Hyderabad and where my  nose for news led me Bill Clinton was coming to town. A US President flying down to Hyderabad was significant. March 24, 2000 was the day he would arrive. I was curious. What goes into the coming of the most powerful person on earth? That there is meticulous planning is anybody’s guess. That the security will be tight goes without saying. There were official functions arranged. Those we could anyway cover in the newspaper.   What more? What else? So I got interested in the weather. Weather? Well, the weather was clear. In any case, once he arrived at the Begumpet airport, he was to travel by road to the couple of functions that had been lined up for him. He would return to the airport by road and fly off. The weather was clear. But I was still keen on checking it with the weather officials directly by personally meeting them. It was, actually, a means to an end. An idea that would open up a world for me. The ...