Kumbakonam P. Rajagopalan (1902-1944), known by his pen name Ku. Pa. Ra. was a Tamil writer, translator and journalist.

Early life

Rajagopalan was born in 1902 in Kumbakonam

Kumbakonam

Kumbakonam , also spelt as Coombaconum in the records of British India , is a town and a special grade municipality in the Thanjavur district in the southeast Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located 40 kilometres from Thanjavur and 272 kilometres from Chennai, it is the headquarters of the Kumbakonam...

, Madras Presidency

Madras Presidency

The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...

. He had his education in Kumbakonam and joined the services of the Madras government. However, he was soon affected by cataract

Cataract

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...

 and was forced to quit his government job.

Career

In 1937, when sight was restored to his eyes after a successful operation, he moved to Madras in order to commence a career as a professional writer. For a time, he worked for a daily called Tamil Nadu along with C. S. Chellappa

C. S. Chellappa

Cinnamanur Subramaniam Chellappa was a Tamil writer, journalist and Indian independence movement activist. He belonged to the "Manikodi" literary movement along with Pudhumaipithan, Ku Pa Ra, Va. Ramasamy, N. Pichamurthy and A. N. Sivaraman...

.