Poets

Janaki Srinivasa Murthy (Kannada: ಜಾನಕಿ ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸ ಮೂರ್ತಿ), popularly known by her pen name as Vaidehi (Kannada: ವೈದೇಹಿ) is a well-known writer of modern Kannada language fiction. Vaidehi is one of the most successful woman writer in Kannada and winner of many prestigious national and state level literary awards. She has won the Central Sahitya Akademi Award for her collection of short stories, Krauncha Pakshigalu in 2009.

Early Life

Vaidehi was born on February 12, 1945 to A.V.L Hebbar and Mahalakshmi in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district, Karnataka. She belongs to Kota Brahmin community, a distinct Kannada community mainly found in Kundapur. She grown up in very large family. she lived in a large traditional Brahmin house with many children's, servants, guests and family friends. Her father, A.V.L.Hebbar, is a lawyer and her mother was a second wife of a Hebbar and focal point of the family. Vaidehi speaks a dialect of Kannada, called Kundapur Kannada and uses this dialect in her works. Vaidehi's birth name is Vasanti. the pen-name Vaidehi was given by a Kannada weekly magazine Sudha, she sent a story to Sudha magazine for publishing, but few days later she sent a letter to Sudha weekly magazine editor requesting not to publish the story, as it was a real life story; however, the editor went ahead and published the story by changing her name to Vaidehi, thereafter she become popular and known by name Vaidehi. She did her B.Com (Bachelors of Commerce) in Bhandarka..