By K.R. Mohan
Kalale Raghavendra Rao (80), writer, longtime contributor to Sruti from Mysore, and an engineer by profession, passed away on 3 August 2015 at his residence in Mysore. He was suffering from age-related ailments. He leaves behind his wife Prema, son K.R. Vasudeva, daughters Sudhamayi Havaldar, Chandrika Gururaj and Manisha Gupta. His eldest son-in-law, Dr. Nagaraj Havaldar, is a noted Hindustani vocalist in Bangalore.
Rao had worked in many parts of India. His last assignment was as General Manager and later on Director of Oriental Electric & Engineering Co. Ltd., Kolkata, for 17 years. As the president of Karnataka Association and Madhwa Samaj of Kolkata, he had invited a number of artists from all over India for performances at Kolkata and his residence was a veritable guesthouse for eminent artists.
After retirement, Rao was engaged in studies of philosophy and scriptures. He authored four books – Gift that is Life, My Enjoyment of Music, On the Other Hand, and Rigbhashya and Astrophysics, besides several research articles. His last work Vishnu Sahasranama: Aadibhautika Interpretation, has received scholarly review in Vedanta Kesari of August 2015.
From young age, Rao had good exposure to Carnatic, Hindustani and Western music. He was very knowledgeable about them and was quite a regular contributor to Sruti from 1986 to 2002. The late N. Pattabhi Raman held Rao in high esteem for his well researched articles. <<>>
(The author is a Mysore-based freelance writer)