Kikkeri Subbarao Narasimhaswamy (26 January 1915 – 27 December 2003) commonly known as K. S. Narasimhaswamy, was an Indian poet who wrote in

Kannada language Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native ...

. His most popular collection of poems, '' Mysooru Mallige'', has seen more than thirty-two reprints and is sometimes given to newly married couples in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

. Narasimhaswamy is a recipient of the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

, Kannada sahitya Academy Award, and the Asian Prize for literature.

Early life

Narasimhaswamy was born in

Kikkeri Kikkeri is a small town in Krishnarajapete, Mandya district of Karnataka state, India. Schools in Kikkeri * Karnataka Public School, Kikkeri * Cambridge Public School, Kikkeri People from Kikkeri * K. S. Narasimhaswamy, an Indian poet i ...

Mandya district Mandya District is an administrative district of Karnataka, India. The district is bordered on the south by Mysore and Chamarajangar districts, on the west by Hassan District, on the north by Tumkur District and on the east by Ramanagara ...

. He abandoned studies after his father, who wanted him to become an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

, died, and took up a job of a clerk in a municipal office in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

. However, in 1934, he joined the Central College in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, where he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree. He was transferred to

in 1954 and retired as a superintendent in the Karnataka Housing Board in the 1970s. He married Venkamma in

Tiptur Tiptur is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. It is the second largest and the fastest growing city in Tumkur district. It is a sub-divisional headquarters of Tumkur district in Karnataka. Capital city Bengaluru is 1 ...

in 1936. He often portrayed his wife as the inspiration for his poems which mainly deal with romance in married life.

Works

Narasimhaswamy's romantic love poems, inspired by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

(whose work he translated to Kannada as ''Robert Burnsna Premageetegalu'') were unique to the language at the time when most

Kannada poetry Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ) is the language spoken in Karnataka (ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ, ಕರುನಾಡು). Karnataka has eight Jnanapeeth (ಜ್ಞಾನ ಪೀಠ ಪುರಸ್ಕೃತ) award winners, the highest honor bestowed for Indi ...

dealt with nature and the natural world. Malligeya Maale (poem) hand-written by KS Narasimhaswamy

Publications

Poetry collections

* '' Mysooru Mallige'' (1942) * ''Ungura'' (1942) * ''Airaavatha'' (1945) * ''Deepada Malli'' (1947) * ''Iruvanthige'' (1952) * ''Shilaalathe'' (1958) * ''Maneyinda Manege'' (1960) * ''Tereda Baagilu'' (1976) * ''Navapallava'' (1983) * ''Malligeya Maale'' (1986,2004) * ''Dundu Mallige'' (1993) * ''Navila Dani'' (1999) * ''Sanje Haadu'' (2000) * ''Kaimarada Nelalalli'' (2001) * ''Ede Thumba Nakshtra'' (2002) * ''Mounadali Maatha Hudukutha'' (2003) * ''Deepa Saalina Naduve'' (2003) * ''Haadu-Hase'' (A Collection of songs) (2003) * ''Ikkala'' * ''Dandu Mallige''

Translations

* ''Media'' (1966) * ''Robert Burns Kaviya kelavu Premageetegalu'' (1997) * ''Kelavu Chinee Kavanagalu'' (1997)

Prose

* ''Maariya Kallu'' (1942) * ''Upavana'' (1958) * ''Damayanthi'' (1960) * ''Sirimallige'' (1990)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narasimhaswamy, K. S. 1915 births 2003 deaths Kannada poets People from Mandya district Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Poets from Karnataka 20th-century Indian male writers Best Lyrics National Film Award winners