Narayana Kasturi

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Professor Narayana Kasturi (Kannada: ನಾರಾಯಣ ಕಸ್ತೂರಿ; Tamil: நாராயண கஸ்தூரி ; Malayalam: നാരായണ കസ്തൂരി; Telugu: నారాయణ కస్తూరి) was born in North Travancore, which now forms part of the modern day Kerala, an Indian state. It was Narayana Kasturi who called All India Radio by the poetic name Akashavani. He was a Tamil Brahmin (Iyer). He is remembered as a great visionary who lived for human fraternity and multilingualism.

Narayana Kasturi had his schooling in the Cochin State under a great headmaster who had met Swami Vivekananda. He received his Bachelor's degree in Law and Master's degree in Arts from the University College, Trivandrum, in India. After graduation, he worked as a Lecturer in a Mysore college. He also proved his talent as a great writer in Kannada language, especially as a humourist. He served as the Secretary of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission at Mysore for over seventeen years. During these years he came into contact with Sri Siddarooda Swami, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Meher Baba, and Sri Narayana Guru; and was initiated into Japam by Mahapurushji, the direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He met Sathya Sai Baba in the year 1948. He started writing the Life Of Sai Baba and published his first book Sathyam Sivam Sundaram Part I.[1] He was also the editor of the magazine of the Sathya Sai Organization, called Sanathana Sarathi.

Sathyam Sivam Sundaram- (Life of Sathya Sai Baba): [2] The English translation equivalent to this is Truth, Goodness, Beauty. The First volume in this series was published in 1961. This talks about the early days of Baba's life from the year 1926 to 1960. Kasturi says in his book that he wrote the early days of Baba's life based on the details given by Sri Pedda-Venkapa Raju (Baba's Father) and Sri Seshama Raju (Baba's brother) and teachers of the Bukkapatnam and Uravakonda schools (Baba's teachers). The Second, Third and Fourth Volumes have since been written and published in subsequent years.

His writing in Kannada was with packed with humor, jokes. He wrote more than 1000 articles. According some sources He is the one who named Mysore Radio station as Akashavani while working for Gopalan. He worked as Professor in History in Maharaja Collage Mysore. He also worked as Principal of Arts Collage Davanagere. Narayana Kasturi also translated the famous Malayalam novel Chemmeen into Kannada. N Kasturi (also referred as Na. Kasturi) was a regular writer to the Koravanji

Koravanji, which he launched on Ugadi Day in 1942, enjoyed a circulation of nearly 2 lakh, amply testified his success as a journalist-writer. While chief Rashi himself wrote the column Koravavalokana, he was responsible in bringing to light the latent writing talent of many youngsters of the time like Kefa, Bulla, Aa.Ra.Se, Na. Kasturi, C.K.N. Raja, Girani Ramsami, and T. Sunandamma. Though the magazine ceased publication in 1967 due to financial constraints, many of its writers continue to remain in the field. Of course, at a certain point in time, many more magazines devoted to humour came to the market, but none were a match to Koravanji.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/11/25/stories/2002112500740200.htm

According to Lawrence A. Babb, virtually all existing accounts of Sathya Sai Baba's life are based on the hagiographic writings of Narayana Kasturi.[3]

His autobiography was published in 1982 by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications. [4]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Professor Narayana Kasturi M.A, B.L Available Online
  2. ^ Narayana Kasturi, Author Of Sathyam Sivam Sundaram Available online
  3. ^ Babb, Lawrence A., Redemptive encounters: three modern styles in the Hindu tradition, ISBN 0520056450
  4. ^ Kasturi, Narayana Loving God. Eighty Five Years under the Watchful Eye of THE LORD, 1982, Prasanthi Nilayam, published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications

[edit] Bibliography

  • Kasturi, N., "Sathyam-Shivam-Sundaram: The Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba", 4-volume series, ISBN 1578360773
  • Kasturi, N., "Easwaramma: The chosen mother", ASIN B0007BFTEY
  • Kasturi, N., "Loving God: Eighty-five years under the watchful eye of the Lord", ASIN B0007C8W60
  • Kasturi, N., "Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume IX", ASIN B000IOTMDE
  • Kasturi, N., "Sathya Sai Speaks: Discourses of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Volume I", ASIN B000E8PPQW