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Telikicherla Suryanarayana Sastri, the earliest ancestor of the
Telikicherla's of Karavanja about whom information is available was born
circa 1870 in a Paranandi family. The Telikicherla’s were the village
Karanams, or community leaders, a hereditary post representing the
authority of the government at the village level. The earliest known
Telikicherla is Appaih, his son Jaganatham and grandson Appala Narasimham
who did not have children of his own until later in life. According to the
family folklore Appala Narasimham, once had gone to visit his parents and
he found the two year old Suryanarayana Sastri (son of his wife’s older
sister) playing in front of their house. He had picked him up and, while
his sister-in-law was busy in the kitchen, made her promise that he could
keep what he had found. She had given her word without realising that her
brother-in-law was referring to her son. He had insisted on her keeping
her word and had formally adopted Suryanarayana Sastri. Soon after the
adoption his foster parents had their own children, and Jaganatham was one
of them. This seems to have caused a lot of hardship to Suryanarayana
Sastri, particularly in respect of inheritance of the family property,
which could not have been substantial in any case. Chastened by this
experience he resolved to get his children educated so that they could
stand on their own feet instead of depending on family inheritance for
their livelihood. To this end he disposed of some of his land in Karavanja
and migrated to nearby Urlam, in Parlakimedi District.
In those days the Parlakimedi Rajah's college was one of the old
colleges in the Madras Presidency. His stepbrother stayed in the village
and in the 1950’s they were still the village Karanams.
Very little information is available about the education, career and life
of Suryanarayana Sastri except that he was a teacher in his native village
and perhaps other villages in Vizag (Visakhapatnam), Chicacole
(Srikakulam) and Ganjam districts in the old Madras Presidency. He
understood the importance of education and encouraged his children to get
English education. He married Vemavarapu Appala Narasamma and had six sons
and two daughters, who survived beyond their teens. The fifth son died in
his youth. Suryanarayana died in 1920.
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