RAMA MURTY TELIKICHERLA

          Ramamurthi Telikicherla was the second son of Telikicherla Suryanarayana Sastri and Appala Narasamma. Unlike his elder brother he was a keen student and duly completed his studies, graduating from the Parlakimedi Rajah's college in Parlakimedi, then a native state under British India. He also got a licentiate diploma in teaching (L.T.) and became a teacher in Rajahmundry and Guntur. Coming under the influence of the Brahmo Samaj, which was then sweeping Andhra Pradesh, he became a Brahmo along with his third brother Suryaprakasam, facing ostracism from the community. He and Suryaprakasam, who was also teaching in Guntur, jointly built a house in the newly developing Brodiepeta in Guntur. He lost his wife, Lalitamba, in 1929, when his only daughter Hemalata was only four years old. He was strong physically and took a keen interest in outdoor activities and in sports. One day in 1931 he was injured in the abdomen while playing hockey and succumbed to the injury. He was known to be a generous, philanthropic and deeply religious person.