D. L. Narasimhachar |
Doddabele
Lakshmi Narasimhachar was born on 27 October 1906 in Chikkanayakanahalli in
Tumkur district. His father Shamayya Iyengar was a clerk in the Sub-Registrar’s
office. His mother Lakshmamma was daughter of Annaswamy Iyengar who was known
for his rendition of Mahabharatha (Bharathavachana). D. L. Narasimhachar spent
most of his childhood at Annaswamy’s Iyengar’s house and he had mastered
“Jaimini Bharatha” by the age of 12 years! His family had migrated from Salem
during the Vijayanagar Empire’s reign.
D. L. Narasimhachar had his schooling
at Pavagada, then at Madhugiri and Sira. He learnt Sanskrit through private
tuition. While in school, he was an avid contributor to the school magazine
“School Folk” which was started by Principal Krishnaswamy Iyer. His earliest
articles were an English article titled “The Story of a Cotton Seed” and a
Kannada article titled “Dodda Manushyaru Yaaru?” In his school years, he had
read works of Raghuvamsa and Champunarayana. During these school years, B. M.
Srikantaiah once paid a visit to D. L. N.’s school and took a class on “Stories
from Aeneid”. This class captured D. L. N.’s attention and fostered an ardent
devotion to B. M. Srikantaiah under whose aegis he would later complete his
Master’s qualification.
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