Nanda's father was Madhusudan Nanda (d. 1892). His mother died in 1951. In 1925, Nanda married Soudamini Devi (d. 13 August 1988). They had eight daughters and one son. Nanda's elder brother was Balakrushna Nanda (teacher) and younger brothers were Radhakrushna Nanda (an eminent Drama writer cum artist and owner of Ichhapur Jatra Mandali, writer of many drama books and Niyati songs) and Dinakrushna Nanda.
His son is Er Prabhat Kumar Nanda, a retired Chief Engineer (Water Resources Dept) and was also Member OPSC. His daughter-in-law is Smt Anasuya Nanda, who is an eminent writer and singer. She is the editor of the Odia Children's magazine Sansar (founded by Ramakrushna Nanda).
Nanda was born at Bairoi village of Cuttack District in Odisha and educated in the village of Kantapada, and at the Ravenshaw collegiate school, Cuttack. He wrote for a school magazine, Chandrika. At the time of Independence of India, Nanda was inspired by a local leader, Gopobandhu and became a Swecha Sebaka, a volunteer. He stayed in Alkasrama,[clarification needed]until continuing his studies at Satybadi Jatiya Bidyalaya, where he learnt Devnagiri, a type of Indian alphabet. Nanda also matriculated from the English medium school and later received a bachelor of education.
Nanda began his career as a teacher at Banki school. He was then, for six years, an assistant teacher at Baripada high school. In 1933, Nanda became a social worker. He began a local welfare organization called Narayan Samiti. He was also a headmaster at Bhingarpur high school.
Nanda's first textbook in the Odia language was Sahitya Sopana. In 1946, he left his job and came back to Cuttack. On 21 July 1947, Nanda opened Parijata press. In August 1952, he began the Sansar magazine.[3] The press closed in 1961. In retirement, Nanda wrote children's books and songs. Of the form nanabaya, (nonsense rhyme), Nanda said,"
"Unintelligibility or irrelevance does not reduce the value of nanbaya. The rhythm and style is unique. Sometimes the meanings are unclear or impossible to ascertain. In English, some of these rhymes are called 'nonsense' or meaningless rhymes. By defying the metrical prescriptions and grammatical conventions, the spontaneity of these rhymes endear themselves to children."[4]
^Nanda R. (ed.) Odia Shishusangit Samkalan. Bhubaneswar, Orissa Sahitya Akademi, 1981 (3) in, Satpathy, Sumanyu. "Introduction." "The Tenth Rasa: An Anthology of Indian Nonsense." Edited by Michael Heyman, Sumanyu Satpathy, & Anushka Ravishankar. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2007 xivii. ISBN0143100866, 9780143100867. Accessed at Google Books 31 December 2013.
