Rajasevaprasakta Navaratna Rama Rao (May 27, 1877–1960) was born to the Navaratna family in the city of Mysore. The family title “Navaratna”, which means Nine Gems, was conferred by the then revered seer of Uttaradi Mutt for the scholarly services rendered to the orthodox Madhwa Brahmin Society by the nine scholar-brothers in that family (around the early 17th century), who were held in high esteem as precious gems for their mastery in several shastras.

Career

After acquiring B.A, B.L Degrees, Rama Rao passed the Mysore Civil Services Examination to join the State Administration in the Princely Mysore where he served in various high positions starting his career as "Amildar" and retiring as the Director of Industries and Commerce of the State. His out standing services as one of the upright officers of exceptional ability brought the British-ruled Princely State of Mysore, the reputation of being the model state in the country. He attended the first Round Table Conference in London in 1930 as Advisor to the then Diwan, Sir Mirza Ismail.

As a visionary planner of high caliber, he was responsible for establishing Silk Industry in Mysore and subsequently the Central Silk Board of India on which he served as Vice-Chairman. His achievements during his career are so memorable that people in the areas he administered cherish his larger-than-life image even to this day. In recognition of his public service, he was conferred the title “RAJASEVAPRASAKTA” by the then Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Jayachamaraja Wodeyar.

His outstanding brilliance, lovable exterior, his elevated ideals of life borne out of uncompromising self-esteem, the human values he cherished far beyond the narrow confines of caste, creed and religion, naturally earned him the lasting friendship and admiration of several distinguished persons of his time, which included Bharata Ratna C. Rajagopalachari, Sir V.T. Krishnachari, Masti Venkatesh Iyengar, D. V. Gundappa, Bharata Ratna M. S. Subbulakshmi–to name a few.

As a member of Legislative Assembly representing the Government while in service and as an elected member of Legislative council by the State Chamber of Commerce and Industries, he was responsible for many people-friendly decisions taken by the Government.
Bharata Ratna C. Rajagopalachari used to stay in the house of Mr.Rama rao at Basavanagudi, whenever he visited Bangalore.

Literary life

Though an undisputed authority on Shakespeare and Western literature, he was well versed in Kannada, Sanskrit and French. Rajaji’s Ramayana and Mahabharata, the two cornerstones of Indian literature in the English language, were in fact extensively revised by Rama Rao, as Rajaji himself acknowledges in the preface. All these are chronicled in his famous memoir Kelavu Nenapugalu and Masti’s book Navaratna Rama Rao.

Rama Rao’s literary work included his translation of Masti’s famous Kannada novel Chenna Basava Nayaka to English, translation of Niccolò Machiavelli’s book The Prince to Kannada, his Sanna Kathegalu and his chronicled life-sketches of the dynasty of Mysore Rulers besides several articles he wrote to the then Madras Times journal on Shakespeare’s works and contemporary national politics when he was studying law at Madras.