Tenneti Hemalata

Tenneti Hemalata, (15 November 1935 – 1997), better known as Lata, is a Telugu writer from Andhra Pradesh, India. She was a prolific and influential writer who wrote about various situations through the perspective of an educated Niyogi Brahmin woman. Some of her novels, like 'galipadagaloo nitibudagalu ' raised controversies. She was said to be a liberal but her writings had a solid base of tradition too. Lata was born to Nibhanupudi Visalakshi and Narayana Rao on 15 November 1935 in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Her full given name was Janaki Rama Krishnaveni Hemalata. She had formal schooling up to fifth standard, and later studied Sanskrit, Telugu and English classics at home. She was married at the age of nine to Tenneti Atchyutaramayya, who was seven years her senior, and suffered from an incurable medical condition. Her father died at the age of 32, when her mother was pregnant with another child. The child is male(born 4-6-1944 after his fathers death), Nibhanupudi Surya Prakasa Rao (named after his grandfather) and retired as Professor in Organic Chemistry in Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur in 2004. In 1955, Lata started her career as an announcer for the All India Radio station in Vijayawada. She participated in radio plays and later acted in, and wrote dialogue for, movies. Her first radio play was silaa hrudayam ("Stone Heart"), broadcast on Deccan Radio in 1952. She was also an admirer of the musician Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna, and wrote a lyrics for some of his tunes.