At the time of his father’s death, G.V. Chalam was only eight years old.He was brought up by his paternal uncle, Guduru Ramachandra Rao – a Gandhian and a pioneer social reformer who convened the first Adi Andhra Mahajana Sabha in 1917 for the emancipation of the so-called ‘untouchable’ castes, Malas and Madigas of Andhra Pradesh (now known as Dalits).