Laxman Rao is not your ordinary chai wallah.
Apart from the sweet milky tea his customers love, he also sells 24 Hindi-language titles he has authored.
His open air tea shop, registered with the municipality, is essentially a few planks of wood perched on bricks, some buckets of water, ceramic and paper cups, kettles and a gas stove all neatly placed on the pavement.
Born to a farmer in a village in the western state of Maharashtra, Mr Rao left for Delhi – the hub of major Hindi language publishers – in 1975 to fulfil his dream of becoming a writer.
He worked as a construction worker, washed dishes at a restaurant and finally managed to open a shop to sell paan (betel leaves), beedi (hand-rolled cigarettes) and cigarettes a few yards away from his current tea stall. After a few years, he graduated to selling tea as it was more profitable.
Mr Rao has a bachelor’s degree in Hindi and has sat a masters exam through a distance learning programme. He worked hard to publish his books, but all his meetings with publishers ended in disappointment as nobody was willing to bet their money on a book written by a roadside vendor.
Undeterred, he saved up enough to self-publish his first novel in 1979. “Publishers have a highbrow attitude towards people like us and want money to publish our work. I had no money to spare and, therefore, decided to start my own publishing house,” said Mr Rao.
Turbulent lives, the struggle to rise above
Turbulent lives, the struggle to rise above grinding poverty and the ordinary pleasures of life are the themes on which Mr Rao’s novels, political essays and plays are based.
And he is not without recognition.
His best-selling novel “Ramdas” – published in 1992 – explores the complexities of the teacher-student relationship through the story of a young, wayward student from Mr Rao’s village who drowned in a river.
The book, now in its third edition, has sold more than 4,000 copies.
ref:bbc
