Biography
Krishnamurthy was born at Puttamangalam near Mayiladuthurai in the old Thanjavur district in an orthodox, large Brahmin family with limited means. After primary education in the village, Krishnamurthy joined the National High School at Tiruchi.
When Mahatma Gandhi launched his non-cooperation movement in 1921, thousands of students gave up their studies to participate; Krishnamurthy was among them. Inspired by Gandhi's speech at a public meeting in Tiruchi, and despite the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination being three months away, he left school and joined the Indian National Congress.
During his lifetime, Krishnamurthy was sentenced to prison three times. It was during his first, a one-year term handed out in 1922 for seditious libel, that Krishnamurthy first met veteran Congress leader C. Rajagopalachari, and T.Sadasivam. Thereafter, Sadasivam and Krishnamurthy were partners in their journalism activities.
Krishnamurthy's first attempt at writing fiction also came during that period. In 1923 he became a sub-editor on Navasakthi, a Tamil periodical edited by Tamil scholar and freedom fighter V. Kalyanasundaram, known as "Thiru Vi. Ka". Krishnamurthy's first book was published in 1927. About this time he married Rukmini Krishnamurti (formerly Muthulakshmi), generally known as Babuji.
Leaving Navasakthi in 1928, Krishnamurthy stayed with C. Rajagopalachari at the Gandhi Ashram in Tiruchengode in Salem district and helped him edit Vimochanam, a Tamil journal devoted to propagating prohibition. In 1931, he was again imprisoned for six months.
Next year Krishnamurthy joined Ananda Vikatan, a weekly edited and published by S. S. Vasan, as its de facto editor. The magazine soon became a household name in middle class families. Krishnamurthy's witty, incisive comments on politics, literature, music and other forms of art were looked forward to with unceasing interest by readers. He wrote under the pen names of "Kalki", "RaKi", "Karnatakam", and so on. Ananda Vikatan published many of his short stories and novels (as serials).
The name Kalki denotes the impending tenth Avatar of Lord Vishnu in the Hindu religion, who it is said, will bring to an end the Kali Yuga and reinstate Dharma or righteoueness among the worldly beings. He used the name because like the Avatar he wanted to bring about great changes, and also in honor of his mentor Kalyana Sundaram Mudaliar, taking the "Kal" from his name and the "Ki" from his own. He is often referred to as "Kalki Krishnamurthy" or simply "Kalki".
In 1941 he left Ananda Vikatan, rejoined the freedom struggle and was arrested. On his release, after three months, he and Sadasivam started the weekly, Kalki. He was its editor until his death on December 5, 1954. In 1956, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award posthumously for his novel Alai Osai.
Read more about this topic: Kalki Krishnamurthy
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