V.K.R.V. was born into a poor Madhwa Brahmin family in Kanjeevaram. He was the only child in the family who got a cup of milk; they couldn’t afford it for the rest. His father was an astrologer with uncertain income. But the young V.K.R.V. didn’t have an unhappy childhood, though he was rebellious and disobedient. These were to be his defining traits.