Raja Rao was born in 1908 in Hassan, Karnataka (then Mysore), India. He was the oldest of nine children. Rao’s mother died when he was four years old. Her death so early in his life deeply impacted him; the absence of a mother is a theme that appears again and again in his writing. His grandfather followed the Vedanta philosophy based on India’s most ancient scriptures, teaching that the true nature of humans is divine and it exists in all of us. He was another heavy influence on Rao’s work, which is defined by its metaphysical nature.
In 1929, Rao moved to France’s Montpellier University to study French and literature. He then went on to the Sorbonne in Paris to study Indian influence...
