[4] He wrote his works in Telugu and English; these reveal his deep love for Indian classics and his learning in these texts, as well as the modernity of his outlook.

He was the second son of Subrahmanya Reddy,[6] who had built up a lucrative legal practice as a pleader in Chittoor and was known for his high sense of principles and right conduct.

[7] At Madras Christian College, he was the senior of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, whom C. R. Reddy shared a close friendship with.

All of them were greatly impressed by Reddy's performance as a student and noted the qualities of his sharp and incisive mind.

It had some unique features and was viewed as an avant-garde effort in the field of Telugu poetry, quite different from the traditional prabhanda style.

Many British politicians admired Reddy's gifts of intellect and eloquence and predicted a great future for him.

It was during this period that Reddy with great foresight threw open all the schools to Panchama children much against the local orthodox opposition.

In 1926 January, when it was decided to establish Andhra University at Waltaire, Reddy was the natural choice for appointment as its first Vice-Chancellor.

He made Andhra University a great centre of higher education and outstanding research in both sciences and humanities.

Towards the end of 1930, he did the extraordinary thing of resigning his Vice-Chancellorship in protest against the repressive policy of the Government of India in arresting the great leaders of Congress Salt Satyagraha movement.

Iyengar, in his book "Essays and Addresses", describes Reddy as a great educationist, a first-class teacher, humanist, a bold thinker and a reformer.