Becoming G.N. Saibaba
Saibaba was born on 24 July 1967 into a peasant family in the village of Sannavilli, located near Amalapuram town in what is now Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Konaseema District (formerly East Godavari District) in Andhra Pradesh, India. The village was remote and largely dependent on agriculture, with most residents engaged in farming and forming a close-knit community. During his early childhood, Saibaba spent his days tending to farm animals and playing in the open fields until, at the age of five, he contracted polio. At that time, large-scale polio vaccination and awareness programs in India had not yet begun—the national initiative would only start in 1972—leaving the village unaware of the disease’s risks.
His parents sought medical help in Amalapuram and the nearby city of Visakhapatnam, but despite their efforts, the paralysis in his lower limbs was irreversible. In the village, physical disability was often viewed as a lifelong misfortune, with such children seen as a burden on families that relied on physical labor to survive. However, Saibaba’s mother, Suryavati, did not share this outlook. Reflecting on his childhood, Saibaba once stated, “Being a disabled child, my mother brought me up with utmost care. She used to take me to school in her arms so that I could get an education.”
Although he could not walk or run with other children, he remained determined to continue his studies. He crawled to places when necessary, and his mother ensured that he attended all the classes held at the local temple, where the village priest taught basic lessons to the children. This determination took him beyond the confines of a small village and exposed him to a worldview that took him all over the world.
Saibaba began his formal education from the fifth standard at the Garapathi Municipal Primary School and later attended Saint John’s High School, Amalapuram, where he completed his 10th standard. He excelled academically and in extracurricular activities, particularly in essay writing and chess. Between 1979 and 1981, he passed the Prathama, Madhyama, and Uttama Hindi examinations from the Hyderabad Hindi Prachar Sabha, and in 1982, he topped the Purana Prabodha Examination conducted by Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam, earning a Gold Medal.
He pursued Intermediate studies (M.P.C group) at Konaseema Bhanoji Ramars College (SKBR), Amalapuram, followed by a B.A. in English Literature from the same institution, graduating in 1987. He later obtained a Master’s degree in English Literature from Hyderabad Central University, completed a Post Graduate Diploma in the Teaching of English (PGDTE) from the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), and earned a Ph.D. in English Literature from Delhi University in 2013.
