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Early years
T. N. Srikantaiah had his schooling at Theerthapura, where he passed his lower secondary exam in 1916. His middle school education was completed at Chikkanayakanahalli after which he joined the Tumkur Government Collegiate High School in 1919 for his High School education.
In his home town, a gentleman by name Bhyrappa had established a small circulating library at his house. He was affiliated to the Agricultural Training School. In this circulating library, Srikantaiah stumbled across periodicals like ‘Krishnasukti’, ‘Sadboha Chandrika’, ‘Madhuravani’ and some translations by Bindiganaville Venkatachar & Galaganatha. Srikantaiah had memorised many passages of Kalidasa’s ‘Raghuvamsha’ in his Sanskrit classes.
Much to his father’s displeasure, he had chosen Kannada as his second language. However, most of his early contributions to the school magazine were essentially in Kannada. He was an avid contributor to the school newspaper ‘School Folk’. Among his earliest articles was an English article titled ‘My Mother’. This article was well received by his teachers and peers. Another moving piece in memory of his childhood friend who had succumbed to the plague was titled ‘Mitramilapam’. Among his first poems, ‘Shokageethe’ in Kannada was an early testament towards his grasp of metre and scale.
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