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Krishnamurthi, the youngest son of Telikicherla Suryanarayana Sastri and Appala Narasamma was born in 1904. At an early age he was sent by his father to Parlakimedi to live with his older brother Ramamurthi and get an education. As poor Brahmin bachelors, they would eat in different Brahmins house every day, a system known as “vara”. His teachers were Gidugu Seethapathi, Jaganatham and Durvasula. As a youngster he had red hair and was very bright and he was known as the “red scorpion”.
He finished school near top of his class and joined Parlakimedi Rajah's College. The first year of college he neglected to apply for scholarship and he was admonished by the Dewan of Parlakimedi, “God made you poor but not dumb. You should go after all the scholarships you can get”. He later obtained the scholarships to complete his university education and he graduated with a Bachelors degree in Physics from Vijayanagaram college, University of Madras. He migrated to Madras in late 1920’s, obtained his Master’s degree and was professor of Physics at Presidency College in Madras and later retired as the Principal of Government Arts College in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh.
When in college he was fascinated by the radio which was being introduced in the country. He demonstrated to the incredulous public this new communication apparatus every chance he got, even if it meant lugging bulky batteries and receivers in bullock carts to the small towns and villages. He studied and learned on his own the theory and practice of vacuum tubes and electronics. He continued his interest in electronics and learned to apply transistors and integrated circuits. He was a senior member of Institute of Radio Engineers, which later became a part of IEEE, New York, USA.
After retirement he established Physics Instruments Company (PICO), manufacturing laboratory equipment used in the colleges. His precision resistance measuring instruments are recognized by the electrical power cable industry for certification of cable characteristics. He developed several new instruments for use in colleges to teach Physics.
He met in Madras, Adipudi Vasundhara, who had just returned from London, England. Vasundhara studied at London University on a scholarship from the Government and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Chemistry. She was one of the very few Indian women to study in England in those days. She was a professor in the Queen Mary’s College; University of Madras and she later retired as Principal of Teachers Training College in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh. She passed away in 1973.
Vasundhara is the eldest child of Adipudi Somanatha Rao, a poet in Telugu and Kannada languages. His patron was the Rajah of Pithapuram, in Kakinada, Andhra
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