The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Prisoner pens autobiography

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Sunday, Aug 24, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Prisoner pens autobiography

S. Sandeep Kumar

Objective behind writing the book is to alert youngsters about the repercussions of a wrong step, says the lifer

Kunchala Raju

HYDERABAD: At 18 years he fell in love. On turning 19 he got married and attained parenthood by 20 and before he turned 21 he was sentenced for life after being convicted for killing his wife.

This compelling story sums up the life of Kunchala Raju, a prisoner of Cherlapally Open Jail and resident of Prakasam district. Unlike other prisoners, who quickly lose their zeal for life due to rigours of prison life, Raju decided to be resilient and has penned his life into a novel “Prema Katha” (Love story).

The book was released by Cherlapally Open Air Jail Superintendent K. Kesava Naidu and well-known psychologist V. Nagesh on the jail premises on Saturday.

The objective behind writing the book was to make youngsters aware of the dire consequences by taking wrong steps. Love is definitely a wonderful thing to happen in one’s life but youngsters these days do not know the difference between infatuation and real love.

This book guides youngsters on such matters, says Mr. Raju, a Bachelor of Arts graduate from B.R. Ambedkar Open University.

Working for hours till late in the nights, it took 28-year-old Raju nearly one year to complete the book. “I am not basically a writer. After reading the works of Dr. C. Narayana Reddy and other authors, I got inspired to pen my own story,” he says.

Raju claims to have written a couple of books earlier and says he is presently working on “Bala-Re-Balaveerudu,” a short story for kids. He is very disciplined and based on his good conduct he was shifted from Cherlapally jail to open jail last month, says Mr. Kesava Naidu.

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