Citizens of Karimnagar found a reason to be proud in the the Rajinikanth starrer Kabali that was released on Friday. In one of scenes, the actor reads a book written by Karimnagar’s Prof. Y. B. Satyanarayana. In the opening scene of the movie, Rajinikanth, in prison, goes through the book titled My Father Balaiah penned by Prof. Satyanarayana, a retired professor from the OU Engineering College, to draw inspiration.
The professor, a native of Vangapalli in Kamalapur mandal, narrated the discrimination faced by his grandfather and his father as Dalits. It speaks of the conflict between landowners and labour, in the backdrop of untouchability. The book was published by HarperCollins. Prof. Satyanarayana’s grandfather Narsaiah was gifted 50 acres of land for making a pair of silver slippers. However, he faced bias from the upper castes for owning land.
Despite several odds, Prof. Satyanarayana pursued higher studies and became a professor. He founded a voluntary organisation to extend support to Dalits. The book teaches one to be brave and achieve goals despite facing challenges. The book was unveiled by Dr Panthukala Srinivas, founder of DIET, and social activist B. S. Ramulu in Hyderabad in 2011. Dr Pasunuri Ravinder, who presided over the book launch, said the book was a brilliant work and was translated into several languages.
