Gudipati Venkatachalam

Gudipati Venkatachalam Biography

Gudipati Venkatachalam, shortly called Chalam was one of the influential literary figures of modern Telugu literature. He chose themes based on social problems of women in society. He was also known as a philosopher and his thoughts are deeply reflected in his works mostly giving feasible solutions to women’s problems. In 1972 he published his autobiography titled ‘Chalam’ which throws some light on his childhood and teenage days.

 
Gudipati Venkata Chalam was born on 18 May 1894 in Chennai. He was adopted by his maternal grandfather in his childhood who changed his surname to Kommuri. He learnt religious rituals before joining school and practised as well. His childhood days witnessed the abuse of his father who teased his mother a lot, and left an impression in his child mind. His sister too faced a lot of troubles in her married life and thus both these persons later influenced him a lot to write about social issues faced by women in the society.

While studying at Pithapuram Maharaja College, he was influenced by Raghupati Venkata Ratnam Naidu of Brahmo samaj. Before joining graduation at Chennai he got married to Chitti Ranganayakamma. He promoted his wife’s education and used to drop her every day at an education institute. Though born in a Brahmin family, he mingled with people belonging to all caste, ate non-vegetarian food and stopped wearing the sacred thread, which were heavily criticized by his community. He was banned from his family and was not allowed to attend any family functions later.

After studies he started his career as a teacher and was active in Brahmo samaj. Through his writings, he gave better solutions to women’s problems. His works include novels and short stories and some of them were later made to movies and plays. The novel Maidanam is the best instance. He also wrote many one-act plays.

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Updated: October 03, 2014