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Notes on Minute of dissent

Minute of dissent : A historical document of great importance was presented by Gurajada to the Madras University on the resolution passed by majority numbers of the sub-committee on Telugu composition in 1913 and in 1914. Though the purpose of the said document was to protest against the University decision, rejecting 'Modern Telugu' as medium for writing Telugu composition, the same turned out to be the Magna Carta of 'The Modern Telugu Language' in particular and of Indian education system, in general. Gurajada opined that a highly artificial and archaic poetic dialect was altogether unsuitable to modern Telugu prose had strongly observed that "The education of the masses was no part of the orthodox tradition." He added, "learning and literature were no monopoly of the Brahmin to whom Sanskrit precedent was sacred and inviolable."

He said, "Telugu poetry appealed to a narrow cult" and that scholars wrote only for those few and as time went on, unintelligibility was felt to be high literary merit. Brushing aside all the criticism on the local variations of spoken Telugu dialect, he asserted that 'they were insignificant' and that 'it was easier to learn modern Telugu than the poetic forms.' He argued that literary cultivation of modern Telugu necessitates a study of it, and that the study of 'refined living vernacular has great cultural value.'

Even the present day system of education should realize that "if school books are written in modern Telugu, vernacular education will improve at one bounce. Gurajada categorically condemned the argument of the protagonists of literary dialect as 'a narrow cult'. In this context he quoted Prof. Whitney that "scholars might be developed and sustained on the old literatures, but not the people." The 'Minute of Dissent' is a relevant document since it aims at 'rescuing the Telugu language from the learned and give it back to the people, the ultimate creators of language. (M. Chalapati Rao : Gurajada Com-