Chaganti Somayajulu (17 January 1915 – 2 January 1994), popularly known as CHASO, was a short-story writer in 20th century Telugu literature. His nickname, "CHASO," is a portmanteau of the syllables from his name ('CHA' from Chaganti and 'SO' from Somayajulu).
He was born at
Srikakulam
Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census,. it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaa ...
to Kanukolanu Lakshminarayana Sarma and Thulasamma. He was named as Narahari Rao and brought up by his biological parents till the age of 13. He had his primary and middle school education at Municipal High School, Srikakulam, Andhrapradesh. Then he was adopted by Chaganti Bapiraju and Thulasamma and renamed as Somayajulu. He came to
Vizianagaram
Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...
with his adoptive parents
[Somayajulu Chaganti, 20th Century Luminaries, Part II, Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, 2005, pp: 1024–5.] and studied at Municipal High School, Vizianagaram and at
Maharajah's College
Maharajah's College, or M. R. College, established in 1879, it is an autonomous institution located in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh.
History
The institution was founded by Sri Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapathi Raju, the Maharajah of Vizianagram. It ...
, Vizianagaram.
His first story ''Chinnaji'' was published in Bharathi in 1942. Subsequently, he wrote many short stories and poetry. Many of his short stories have been translated into other languages. Compilation of his short stories were published in 1968. He compiled short stories of some important writers as ''Kalinga Kadhanikalu'' during his 70th birth anniversary.
He influenced many people and friends such as
Srirangam Srinivasa Rao
Srirangam Srinivasa Rao (30 April 1910 – 15 June 1983), popularly known as Sri Sri, was an Indian poet and lyricist who is known for his works in Telugu literature and films. Noted for his anthology '' Maha Prasthanam'', Sri Sri is a recipient ...
, Srirangam Narayana Babu and Acharya Ronanki Appalaswamy.
He was a longtime member and president of the Progressive Writers' Association of Andhra Pradesh.
He was married to Annapurnamma (1915-2010). His children were Ammaji (1932-1964), Chinnaji (Chaganti Tulasi, a well-known writer in Telugu), Bapiraju (1939-), Srinivas (1941–42), Krishna Kumari (Noted popular science writer (1947-) and Sankar (noted short story writer and Municipal Commissioner (1952-1996).
He died of throat cancer on 2 January 1994 at the age of 79 in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. As per his wish, his family members donated his eyes and body to
Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute
Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), formerly Sri Ramachandra University (SRU), formerly Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (SRMC & RI), is a private institute located in Porur, Chennai, India. ...
for research purposes.
Books :
Chinnaji Kathalu -1943
Chaso Kathalu _ Visalandhra Publishing House, Hyderabad
Chaso Kavithalu - Vsialandhra Publishing HOuse, Hyderabad
Merugu - One act play
His short stories are translated into English and published as "Chaso - Selected short stories" by Sahitya Academy in 2014. Some of his stories are translated into English by Velcheru Narayana Rao and David Schulman for Penguin Classics (A Doll's Wedding and Other Stories).
Some of Chaso's famous stories
* ''Kunkudaaku''
* ''Bondu Mallelu
* ''Chokka Bochuthuvvalu''
* ''Chinnaji''
* ''Dummalagondi''
* ''Empu''
* ''Kukkuteshwaram''
* ''Enduku Paresthanu Nanna''
* ''Oohaa voorvasi''
* ''Parabrahmam''
* ''Vaayuleenam''
* ''Eloorellali''
References
External links
* http://www.vundavilli.com/Telugu/Personalities/teluguPersons.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somayajulu, Chaganti
Telugu people
Telugu-language writers
1915 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Indian short story writers
Indian male short story writers
People from Srikakulam
Writers from Andhra Pradesh
20th-century Indian male writers
People from Uttarandhra