> Many years ago (in the 60s) Chandamama used to have a questions and answers
> feature (as did Balamitra) in which the editorial staff would address questions
> from readers on every topic under the, er, moon! In one of these Q&A features
> they were asked about the Chandamama artists vapaa, chitra and Shankar
> (of that period) and they replied with a brief intro of them.
While va.paa drew the covers for chandamaama, I do not recall him
illustrating the stories and serials inside. That was usually the work of
chitra and Sankar.
> (Digression: I don't know how many people think of Chandamama as a "mere"
> children's magazine. To me, the contributions it made to the growth of
> knowledge as well as to the development of an easy and elegant style
> are nothing short of astounding. We probably don't often think of this
> aspect of the contributions of Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao (along with
> Nagi Reddy and ChakrapaNi) but I really believe that no evaluation of the
> growth of a modern "telugu intellect" can be complete without taking
> Chandamama into account.)
In saahitya prayOjanam, a collection of essays by Sri
koDavaTiganTi kuTumba raavu, published in 1970 on the occasion of his
60th birthday, there were a few essays by him on the topic of children's
literature. chandamaama was the laboratory for experimenting with his
ideas. He was obviously very successful. At a time, when children had only
limited avenues available, chandamaama was a major influence in inculcating
reading habits, in arousing curiosity about the vast world outside, and in
developing personal value systems. chandamaama is one Telugu institution
that became a success in all Indian langauages.
Another contribution of Sree kodavaTiganTi was that he literally
shaped the Telugu weekly. As the editor of aandhra patrika weekly, he
introduced the current size and look of the Telugu weekly. Before that,
the weeklies and other magazines generally used to be in the size of the
newspapers folded in half. Under his editorship, aandhra patrika became
the primary weekly in Telugu. Its recent demise, of course, is another
sad chapter in contemporary Telugu literature history.
Regards. --- V. Chowdary Jampala