A Na Kru as he is known to the literary world, Arakalagudu Narasingaraya Krishnaraya is one of the best known Kannada writers whose prodigious output over four decades brought novelty to the Kannada literary scene.

Though self-educated, he went on to become one of the most effective speakers of his time both in Kannada and English. Born into a learned and cultured family, his father Narasingaraya was a contemporary of C.Rajagopalachari, Navaratna Ramarao, Masti and A.V.Varadachar in the Central College at Bangalore where the legendary Tate was the Principal. His mother Annapurnamma was deeply religious and led a pious life.

Third among five kids, Krishnaraya was born on 9th May, 1908 (Vaishakha Shuddha Navami, 1830 of Hindu Almanac) in Kolar. During his student days at the National High School in Bangalore began a long lasting friendship with the well-known Kannada playwright T.P.Kailasam. But he failed to qualify for the University as the academic career did not suit him inspite of the voracious reader in him. Krishnarao (as he was called) was a regular contributor to the school journal but came into notice as a writer at age 16 by writing a play 'Maduveyo Manehalo' (Marriage or Disaster) in 1924. His early introduction to Bankimchandra and Tagore took him to Bengal in 1928 where he spent a few months and came in close contact with well known artist Nandalal Bose. The latter inspired one of his best novels of early days, Udayaraga (1934). After returning from Santiniketan, he started Kathanjali, a monthly journal devoted to the short story, a novel venture in those days.

Krishnarao entered wedlock on 26th October 1931 with Vishalakshi (Vasanthadevi after marriage), daughter of Shri H.V.Krishnaswamy, Professor of English and Kannada in Nizam's College, Hyderabad. He put his stay in Hyderabad to good use and acquired profound knowledge in painting. 'Bharatiya Kaleyalli Raja Ravivarmana Sthana' (The Place of Raja Ravivarma in Indian Art, 1932) reveals his originality as an art critic. His interest in Hindustani and Karnatak styles of music was equally strong. Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur was a lifelong friend of his. He produced two volumes of 'Karnatakada Kalavidaru' (The Artists of Karnataka) which includes intimate portrayal of musicians, painters, sculptors and artists. A large part of his biography, 'Barahagarana Baduku' tells the story of his friendship with artists of all types from all over Karnataka.

In 1935 he was in Bombay for a short period and worked for The Bombay Chronicle and quite a few of his articles were published by E.J.Jepson in The Illustrated Weekly of India which encouraged his journalistic career. But soon his passion for Karnataka saw him back in Bangalore. Inspite of his active life and contribution in many ways to the field of literature and to the Kannada cause, honours and awards eluded him till the very end. He was President of the 42nd Kannada Sammelana (Manipal,1960), received an award from the State Sahitya Akademi (1969) and the Univerysity of Mysore conferred on him an honorary Doctorate in 1970. He is as much remembered for his fight to secure Kannada its lawful place in all walks of life. Krishnarao passed away on 8th July 1971 (Gurupaurnima,1893) at age 63 after a prolonged illness.

The source of Krishnaro's strength as a writer lay in his commitment to the cause of culture, the goal of which according to him was to 'reduce the gap between straight living and the way of the world', in other words, between the ideal and the actual. He believed that Indian culture was a living and growing force and tried to present it as a whole in 'Bharatiya Kaladarshana' (1962) and 'Bharatiya Sanskritidarshana' (1964), two extremely useful books which he edited. He sought to win recognition for artists working in various fields through his two volumes of 'Kannada Kalavidaru'. A staunch humanist, he believed that literature should be the expression of a full life and not 'subserve ethics', a Christian concept ; 'Literature which remains outside the life of the people is meaningless', was his forthright view.

Though influenced by Leftist idealogy, he did not completely reject tradition and tried to blend the two. He had open mind with issues related to women and sexual matters, considered taboo in the traditional society of that era and wrote several novels about the issues. Infact, his 'Sahitya mattu Kamaprachodane' (Literature and Sexual Arousal, 1952) remains the only book of its kind in Kannada to this day. In political matters he trod the middle way and was critical of both Communism and American Capitalism. His perhaps was not a fully integrated personality, but it certainly possessed variety and richness. With writers like Krishnarao the critic has a dual responsibility; he has to be aware of the historical dimension of their work while evaluating them in terms of contemporary literary criteria; litarary history and literary criticism are both relevant and necessary disciplines.

His contribution to the Kannada Navodaya literature is immense and he wrote in almost all forms. Speaking of his own novels in particular, he said : 'I wish to draw the attention of readers to two important aspects of my novels. First, my way of looking at problems; second, their pure Indianness.' His 'Sandhyaraga' has been translated into Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati and Tamil and deserves to be translated into English. To conclude, like the three great men that influenced him - Alur, Galaganath and B.M.Shrikantaiah - Krishnarao had a strong awareness of the writer's responsibility. 'The writer', he said, 'is an architect of the nation. He should love freedom and free thought and his life should be an example for others....'