Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao (28 October 1909 – 17 August 1980), also known as Ko Ku, was an exponent of the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

literature in the 20th century. He believed that literature which criticises and enriches human life and ultimately reforms the human thought of its time is the only relevant form of literature.

Life

Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao was born in to a middle-class family in

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra ...

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the largest city of the district in terms of area and with a po ...

. His schooling until 1925 was in Tenali. He lost his father in 1914 and his mother in 1920, and grew up with his uncle. He was very familiar with village life. His elder brother Venkatasubbiah (out of touch since 1921) was a poet-writer and he was introduced to the literary community early through him. He was introduced to western literature too during this time. His early experiments, at the age of thirteen, included an unfinished thriller and poetry, which he would soon abandon. He married eleven-year-old Padmavati in 1924, before he graduated from high school. After Intermediate education (1925 to 1927) at A C college,

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...

, he studied for Bachelors Physics at Vijayanagaram Maharajah college. He started his serious attempts in writing during this time. Towards the end of his undergraduate education, he also became an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He went to the

Benaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Re ...

for his Masters in Physics. During this time, he published his first works: an essay called ''Cinema'' (1930) in the oriental weekly and ''Pranadhikam'' (1931), which won him the first prize in ''Gruhalakshmi''. His masters was cut short in the second year due to the economic depression. Later, he worked in several places from

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

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 ...

, in such positions as a clerk, teacher, factory foreman and a film writer (including music direction for a film), before settling down in the field of journalism. After a stint in some papers, a few of which he founded himself, he was with ''

Chandamama ''Chandamama'' was a classic Indian monthly magazine for children, famous for its illustrations. It also published long-running mythological/magical stories that ran for years. Originally, "Chandamama" was started in Telugu by Chakrapani and ...

'', a popular children's magazine, as its editor in 1952 until he died in 1980. The era when he was born and grown was the time when there were reforms in Telugu society and also in India. His elder brother Kodavatiganti Venkatasubbaya was also a great essayist, and was also a member of 'Sahiti Samiti' because of which he was familiar with literature.

Works

Novels

*Varasatvam *Chaduvu *Aishwaryam *Endamavulu *Arunodayam *Jeevitam *Gaddu Rojulu *Anubhavam *Savati Talli *Panchakalyani *Anamika *Aadajanma *Neekem kavali *Preminchina Manishi *Kuroopi *Bedirina Manushulu *Bratuku Bhayam *Bakasura *Sahasam *Graha Shakalm *Chaduvu *Kulam Leni Manishi *Saritadevi Diary *Saroja Diary *Kotta Alludu *Kotta Kodalu *Maaru Perlu *Taara *Timingalam Veta *Maarina Jeevitam

Short stories

Ampakalu *Kotta Paddhatulu *Peeda Katha *Niridyogam *Adde kompa *Daivaadinapu Jeevitam *Kalisi Ravali *Attadugu *Sadyogam *Nuvvulu – Telakapindi *Ashta Kashtaalu *Udyogam *Nirudyogam *Manamu memu *Manushulaku Gala Swechchha *Shavukaru Subbaiah *Paiki vacchi *Sheela Parisheelana *Parishodhana Buddhi *Bahukudu *Panakam Lo Peechu *Kotta Jeevitam *Sri Krishna Parabrhmanenamaha *Paapa Phalam *Pudigundalu *Piriki Dayyam *Sadyogam *Out *Cinema Sarada *"Aada Bratuke Madhuram" * Tallileni pilla * Adde Kompa * Nijamaina Apachaaram * Mitra Droham *'Nee Kaalu Mokkutaa! Nee Baanchanni! * Chedina Pelli * Peddavaadi Praapakam

Nonfiction

*Cinema vyasaalu (Essays on Cinema) *Science vyasaalu (Essays Science) *Charitra vyasaalu (Essays on history) *Samskruti vyasaalu (Cultural essays) *Tatvika vyasaalu (Philosophical essays) *Samajika vyasaalu (Social essays)

Philosophy

Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao believed in the power of scientific method and materialism in solving the problems of humanity. The essence of his thought may be seen in a short story published in 1942 with the title, 'God and Satan'.Pages 530 to 533, Kutumbarao Sahityam,Volume 6, published Vishalandhra Publishing House, Hyderabad, February 1989

Quotes

*The 'attempts' to save people from literature, literature from politics and politics from people amuse me much *It is foolish to say that only the politicians, but not the artists, have the right to express themselves clear opinions on dictators, unemployment, lock-outs, wars, etc. Exploitation-mongers encourage such stupidity *That which cannot reveal the secrets of nature is no science; that which cannot alleviate the drudgery of life is no 'invention'; that which cannot illuminate every nook and corner of life is no literature *We need to create our literature for our own times ... Fixation to the literary standards of the bygone ages is nothing but deceit

References

External links

Official site of Kodavatiganti.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao Telugu-language writers 1909 births 1980 deaths People from Tenali Banaras Hindu University alumni Telugu writers Writers from Andhra Pradesh