In an age where our contemporary Telugu Literature is left behind, Muhammad Ismail Gaaru brought freshness back into it. He showed the world that Telugu Literature is as exciting as any other Indian Literature. Ismail, was born and brought up in Konaseema in 1928 and has the same soft touch in his writings. A student of renowned Telugu writer Devullapalli Krishnasastry gaaru, he continued the legacy of romantic poetry.
Ismail considered Krishnasastry and Rabindranath Tagore as his role models and owned their writing style. while at school he became a Marxist and activist but slowly turned away from it. He started writing in his thirties and contributed a lot to our contemporary Telugu Literature. A philosophy student, his writings mostly mirror his deep stream of thoughts on various subjects. He majorly contributed to the then famous Telugu Literary Magazines Bharathi and Kala Keli.
Despite being a communist and activist his writings were more Zen like. Though they were very progressive and revolutionary, the tone he used in his writings was more of a calm and peaceful one which made him the most adorable poet of that time. His style is contrary to the then existing Marxist writers. His works were famous for deep imagery and simplicity, which gained him the name 'Sada Balakudu' which means eternal child.
He wrote more than 10 books of all, 'Chettu naa adarsham' has been translated into English by D. Kesava Rao as 'Tree, My Guru'. Apart from writing poetry in Telugu, he also translated many poems from Bengali language and also known for his genuine criticism. His poems were also translated into many Indian languages and French too. He was the first Telugu poet to introduce Japanese 'Haiku' technique to our readers. His contribution to our Literature can never be forgotten. The imagery, rhythms and metaphors used by him, restore our burning faith in remaining our Telugu poetry afresh!
