Essay, Biography or Paragraph on “Venkatesh Iyyengar” complete biography for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Venkatesh Iyyengar

India : Kannada’s Great Novelist

Born : AD 1891                    Died : AD 1986

Srinivas Iyyengar, Kannada’s prolific novelist was popularly known as ‘Maasti’ . He is known as a revolutionary novelist. He was awarded the Gyanpeeth Award’ in 1983 for his famous work Chikkavir Rajendra. He wrote nearly 120 books, which contain 18 plays, 30 novels, 46 biographies, 17 poems and 17 collection of stories. His first work Kelpoo Sanna Katheguk, a collection of stories was published in 1920.

‘Maasti ‘ who was known as the grandfather of Kannada literature, was born in a middle class family in Kolar district. His mother tongue was Tamil. However, he was beyond the confines of any language tangle and rose like meteor in the Indian literature. He contributed towards every aspect of literature. He was brilliant from an early age. He was selected for administrative services of the then Mysore state in 1914. He rose to become Chief Secretary in 1943 and then opted for voluntary retirement.

During his career ‘Maasti’ got experience in the various social and administrative field. He was familiar with both urban as well as rural way of life. His writings depict all the characters from Royal persons to labourers, farmers, pious persons and even crooks. This was the result of his deep study of human character and its understanding.

‘Maasti ‘ never sought awards and decoratives, though throughout his life he was bestowed upon with such honours. His name ranks equal to that of Prem Chand and Sharat Chandra in the field of Indian literature. It was a great coincidence that he died on his birthday, 6 June 1986, when he completed 96 years.