a professional photographer who settled in the town of Rajamundry for his vocation; and his mother, Surya Narayanamma, was a pious homemaker. His date of birth is disputed, with some sources reporting it as 4 July 1897, and others as 4 July 1898. Details of his place of birth vary, an official report suggests he was born in Bhimavaram, while several other sources cite it to be the village of Mogallu in West Godavari District. New reports suggest that the village of Pandrangi in Bheemunipatnam is his precise place of birth. Venkata Rama Raju, was a free spirited man with immense self respect and great love for freedom. He once chided a young Rama Raju for practicing the then prevalent custom of Indian people saluting the Europeans in acknowledgement of their superiority. He died when his son was eight. Early life and education Rama Raju completed his primary education and joined High school in Kakinada, where he became a friend of Madduri Annapurnaiah (1899–1954), who later grew up to be another prominent Indian revolutionary. In his teens, Rama Raju in accordance with his reticent and meditative nature, contemplated taking Sannyasa. At age 15, he moved to his mother's home town of Visakhapatnam and enrolled at Mrs. A.V.N. College for the fourth form exam. While there, he often visited far flung areas in the Visakhapatnam district, and became familiar with the struggles of the tribal people there. Around this time, he became a friend of a rich man and developed platonic love for his friend's sister named Sita, whose untimely demise left him heartbroken. To make her memory eternal, Rama Raju then prefixed her name to his, and came to be popularly known as Sita Rama Raju. He eventually dropped out of college without completing his course. At this instance his uncle Rama Krishnam Raju, a tehsildar in Narsapur of the West Godavari district, under whose tutelage he grew up so far, brought him to Narasapur and admitted him to the local Taylor High School. He however later gave up his schooling, but privately mastered the literature of Telugu, Sanskrit, Hindi and English languages. Contemporary reports indicate that although he had an undistinguished education, he took a particular interest in astrology, herbalism, palmistry and equestrianism, before becoming a sannyasi at the age of 18. Growth as leader Indicative of his future as a leader, Alluri in his high school days was