Lucknow University

Balakrishnan moved to Lucknow University to pursue higher studies. For the first time he moved out of his familiar surroundings in Kerala. Life seemed to expand its horizons as he met people from other cultural zones. He lived in Butler Hostel and wrote to his mother in Malayalam on February 26, 1941. This is the earliest letter preserved in Chinmaya Archives.

Sri P.K.S. Kutty writes about his memory of Balan of those days in his book Years of Laughter: Reminiscences of a Cartoonist.

It was here that he formed his deep friendship with Narendra Shroff, whose demise marked a turning point in his life and opened the gates of spiritual commitment.