Kikkeri Subbarao Narasimhaswamy (26 January 1915 – 27 December 2003) was an Indian poet who wrote in
Kannada language. 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.[1][2] Narasimhaswamy is a recipient of the
Sahitya Akademi Award,
Kannada sahitya Academy Award,[3] and the Asian Prize for literature.[4]
Early life
Narasimhaswamy was born in
Kikkeri in
Mandya district. He abandoned studies after his father, who wanted him to become an
engineer, died, and took up a job of a clerk in a municipal office in
Mysore.[4] However, in 1934, he joined the
Central College in
Bangalore, where he obtained a
Bachelor of Arts degree.[1] He was transferred to
Bangalore in 1954 and retired as a superintendent in the Karnataka Housing Board in the 1970s.[4] He married Venkamma in
Tiptur in 1936. He often portrayed his wife as the inspiration for his poems which mainly deal with romance in married life.[1]
Works
Narasimhaswamy's romantic love poems, inspired by
Robert Burns (whose work he translated to Kannada as Robert Burnsna Premageetegalu) were unique to the language at the time when most
Kannada poetry dealt with nature and the natural world.[3]