Kanthapura

Raja Rao (1908–2006) was an Indian writer of philosophical novels and short stories in English, born in Hassan, Karnataka, into a Brahmin family and later becoming an Indian-American professor in the US. His works, deeply rooted in Hindu metaphysics and exploring East-West cultural tensions, include the village saga Kanthapura depicting Gandhi's influence and the semi-autobiographical The Serpent and the Rope, earning him the Sahitya Akademi Award, Padma Bhushan, and Neustadt International Prize for Literature. He participated in India's independence movement and taught philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.