Srinivasa Rao Srirangam

Srirangam Srinivasa Rao (30 April 1910 – 15 June 1983), popularly known as Sri Sri, was a Telugu poet and lyricist. He was a member of PEN INDIA, Sahitya Academy, Vice-President of the South Indian Film Writers Association, Madras and President of the revolutionary writers association of Andhra. He was also awarded the Soviet Land Nehru Award of India.

Srirangam Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Sri Sri, was born on 30 April 1910 in Visakhapatnam. He completed his education in the same school in which his father, Sri Venkata Ramaiah, was working as a mathematics teacher. He married Venkata Ramanamma at an age of 15 and adopted a girl child. He later married Sarojini, with whom he had a son and three daughters.

He went to Madras for his higher studies in 1928 and completed them by 1931. In 1938, he joined as a sub-editor of Andhra Prabha, a daily newspaper. He later worked for All India Radio and armed forces. He is a major radical poet (e.g. Prabhava) and novelist (e.g. Veerasimha Vijayasimhulu). He introduced free verse into his socially concerned poetry through Maha Prasthanam. He wrote visionary poems in a style and metre not used before in Telugu classical poetry.

He entered into Telugu cinema with Ahuti (1950), a Telugu-dubbed version of Junnarkar's Neera aur nanda (1946). Some of the songs, such as "Hamsavale O Padava", "Oogisaladenayya", "Premaye janana marana leela", scored by Saluri Rajeswara Rao, were major hits.

Srirangam Srinivasa Rao was the first true modern Telugu poet to write about contemporary issues that affected day-to-day life of a common man in a style and metre which were not used in classical Telugu poetry. He wrote visionary poems in a style and metre not used before in Telugu classical poetry. He moved poetry forward from traditional mythological themes to reflect more contemporary issues. The essence of his personality was captured by Gudipati Venkatachalam when he compared him with the great romantic Telugu poet Devulapalli Krishnasastri: “While Krishna Sastry made his anguish known to the whole world,Sri Sri spoke in his voice about the anguish of the whole world. Krishna Sastry’s pain was the pain of the world, while the world’s pain became Sri Sri’s pain.” His book Maha Prasthanam (The Great Journey), an anthology of poems, is one of his major works. In one of the poems, "Jagannathuni Ratha Chakralu", Sri Sri addressed those who were suffering due to social injustices and said, "Don't cry, don't cry. The wheels of the chariot of Jagannath are coming; they are coming! The apocalyptic chant of the chariot wheels! Come, realise your dreams Rule your new world!" "Other major works include Siprali and Khadga Srushti ("Creation of the Sword").

Sri Sri was the first President of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee that was formed in 1974.

Sri Sri was a screenwriter for several Telugu films. He was one of the best film songwriters in India, he has penned lyrics for over 1000 soundtracks in Telugu. He was a great asset to the Telugu film industry

• Sahithya Academy Award – 1972
• Soviet Land Nehru Award
• Flim fare award in 2002

• Raja-Lakshmi Award in 1979 by Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation in Chennai

• National Film Award for Best Lyrics – 1974
• Nandi Award for Best Lyricist- 1981 for song "Andamaina Lokamani" from Tholikoodi Koochindi