K Madhava Rao translated Gurram Joshua's Gabbilam (Bat) into English. The original Telugu classic work of poetry was published in 1941, and its English translation was published in 1969. Gabbilam is a spirited work of art which portrays the plight, exploitation and the discrimination meted out to untouchables in Andhra Pradesh. As a spokesperson of these untouchables, Joshua wants their suffering to be conveyed/carried to God. Therefore, he finds in the animal `Bat', a suitable messenger. As a messenger the bird carries the poet's message of sorrow and woe to Lord Shiva. Both—Joshua's selection of the `Bat' as a messenger and `Lord Shiva' as the recipient of the message—are symbolically significant. His use of the bird as a messenger is quite appropriate and it deliberately subverts the main stream symbols of messenger and worship. Gabbilam (Bat) is a dark, ugly bird that dwells in the deserted temples and it always hangs upside down. In its upside down position the poet sees a relative nearness to God, `the Shivalingam', and so an easy way to carry the message of misery and exploitation to God from the poet. Normally and in traditional conservative Hindu society, the untouchable is not allowed access to God. By selecting the bird as a messenger of the dalits, the poet has struck an appropriate, unconventional way of reaching the Creator subverting the elitist ways of worship and creativity. There are overt indications of deliberate subversion of Kalidasa's Meghadutam, which is an acknowledged representative text of the elite, upper class social order. This paper is an attempt at studying such subversions and representations which facilitate greater understanding and appreciation of the poem.

Gurram Joshua (1895-1971) is a well-known Telugu poet. He started his career as a school teacher. Later on, he became a narrator in silent theater, a war propagandist, a patriot and a nominated member of Legislative Council (Andhra Pradesh). He received a number of literary awards, the highest being Kalaprapurna (1969) from Andhra University; while the Government of India honored him with a Padma Bhushan in 1970. He published Gabbilam (Bat) in Telugu in 1941. Mr. K Madhava Rao, a distinguished Civil Servant and former Chief Secretary of Government of Andhra Pradesh, translated Gabbilam into English. Like Joshua, K Madhava Rao too belongs to the socially deprived community which probably made it easier for Rao to infuse the original spirit of Telugu poetry into the English translation. In 1998, the Joshua Foundation published the translated version of Gabbilam. Joshua's Gabbilam is set in the 1940s, a time when the entire Indian society was in turmoil and all values were simmering in the socio-political cauldron. It was at such a moment that Gurram Joshua created an `untouchable' as a unique character in Telugu poetry. Gabbilam is a presentation of socio-political discourses and reformist movements that were waging a war against Hindu orthodoxy and religious dogmatism. Gabbilam is a spirited work of poetry. It portrays the plight and feelings of dalits who, for centuries, have been exploited and discriminated against. Joshua, as a rebel poet, evokes strong emotions among the dalits.

As a spokesperson, Joshua wants the problems of untouchables to be carried to God. Therefore, he finds and deploys the `Bat' as a messenger to carry this message to Lord Shiva. He gets this idea when he sees bats hanging upside down very close to the `Shivalinga' in a deserted Shiva temple on the outskirts of his village.

English Studies Journal, Gurram Joshua, Gabbilam, Meghadutam, Marga Traditions, Desi Traditions, Varna System, Lord Shiva, Shivalingam, Alien Traditions, Elite Culture, Bharatmata.