Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao

Indian writer

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

Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao was born in to a middle class family in Tenali, Guntur district. 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, 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. He went to the Benaras Hindu University 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 to Bombay to Madras, 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, 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.

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'.