Narla Venkateswara Rao

Narla Venkateswara Rao or V. R. Narla (1 December 1908 – 13 March 1985) was a Telugu language writer, journalist and politician from Andhra Pradesh in India.

He was Rajya Sabha member twice from 3 April 1958 to 2 April 1970, and wrote a satakam in Telugu along with several other books.

Born in a middle-class agricultural family, with limited means, Narla had to struggle hard in the early years of his illustrious life to achieve his ambition of social mobility upwards.

His ancestors migrated from the Andhra area of former Madras Presidency to central India in what is now Madhya Pradesh and settled in Sagar, MP ,and traded in grains and supplies.

Narla Venkateswara Rao and his second brother Narla Gowri Shankar Rao, were born in Sagar, his Sister (Laxmi Bai) and youngest brother Narla Tata Rao were born in Kavutaram, AP.

At the age of six, Narla returned to Andhra and resumed his studies to become a graduate.

Narla Venkateshwara Rao's and Narla Gowri Sharkar Rao's education was funded by Narla Venkata Ramanna, a prominent businessman who lived in Katni, MP.

The raging national movement for independence inspired him and made him plunge into it.

The first part is preoccupation with journalism, blossoming out of his childhood flair for writing.

It did not take long for him to earn recognition as a force to be reckoned with in Telugu journalism.

His influence as an opinion maker arising out of the impact of his writings was tremendous.

He was then editor of Andhra Prabha, the Telugu publication of Ramnath Goenka's Indian Express Group of newspapers.

During Second World War as well as in the post- independence period, the readers of the paper would first savour his opinions on various matters before turning to the news columns.

The daily newspaper published from Madras (today's Chennai) had such a stature that it lifted the status of Telugu journalism.

Narla introduced to Telugu readers Suryadevara Sanjiv Dev (of Tummapudi village in Guntur district) by serialising his memoirs in the newspaper to the delight of art lovers.

Narla was a relentless fighter against injustice in society and politics.

He faced the wrath of the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh including Tanguturi Prakasam, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy and P.V. Narasimharao on many occasions.

During the late 1960s Narla shifted to Hyderabad which became the main publishing centre of the daily.

The Chennai establishment was wound up

By then Narla had changed a lot, both mentally and physically.

A chain smoker, he stopped smoking after a heart attack.

He organised his library, which had 25,000 books, both English and Telugu.

The Library has since been given to the Ambdkar Open University in Hyderabad.

The deep humanist strain in him developed and he emerged as a rationalist.

He studied the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads and other Hindu spiritual works as well as the writings of M.N.Roy.

In the process, he developed friendship with the Kashmiri leader, Prem Nath Bazaz, who was banished from Jammu and Kashmir by the administration of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

Bazaz was a friend and follower of M.N. Roy) Sushil Mukerjee (Minerva Associates, Kolkata, Radical Humanist), Niranjan Dhar (author of a controversial book on Vedanta in which he charged Swami Vivekananda the seer with shallowness), Justice V.M. Tarkunde (who resigned as a judge of the Bombay High Court and a renowned human rights activist, Professor A.B. Shah, founder of Indian Secular Society), Avula Gopalakrishna Murthy (advocate and leader of humanist movement in Andhra Pradesh and editor of humanist journals in Telugu).

Narla studied the works of M.N. Roy scrutinizing his ideas.

Roy was then critical of Gandhi and his leadership of the Indian National Congress.

He suggested alternative methods of reforming the Congress party.

He also criticized Gandhi's religious approach to politics.

Roy had just then returned to India after 15 years' sojourn in Russia, Germany and China.

Brahmananda Reddy wanted to check Andhra Jyothi daily during 1969 by introducing a bill in State Assembly to curb the freedom of the press.

Journalists fought back and won against the Chief Minister.

He had to withdraw the bill.

Narla stood firm in the vanguard of the struggle.

The second phase of his life opened with extensive overseas visits, covering several countries.

During these travels, he devoted as much attention to the art and literature as well as to current affairs.

From famous libraries, to monuments, art galleries, every aspect of life in the countries that he visited attracted his attention.

Meanwhile, he left Andhra Prabha and launched another Telugu daily Andhra Jyothi with the help of friends, including industrialists, zamindars, politicians et al. Soon the Andhra Jyothy started an edition from Vijayawada, its first foray into Andhra Pradesh.