Laxman Rao Ltd.

 This sidewalk tea-seller has authored and published 25 books

- Dhriti Gandhi Ranjan

Laxman Rao, 65, a tea-seller in New Delhi overcame all odds to publish 25 books in Hindi. His works—ranging from fiction and plays to analyses of Indian politics and economy—are now sold through e-commerce websites and Kindle.

Rao’s journey as a writer began in 1977, under a tree, on the pavement outside Hindi Bhawan at Vishnu Digamber Marg in ITO, New Delhi. You can still meet him there, and buy a cup of tea for ₹10. His desire to write was fanned by Gulshan Nanda’s books, some of which— Sharmeelee, Kati Patang, Daag and Khilona—became Bollywood movies. “Surprisingly, what started as an interest in my teenage, developed into a passion. This passion made me write in Hindi, like Nanda,even though Marathi was my mother tongue,” he said.

Rao’s journey to Delhi was not easy. “Before coming to Delhi, I worked as a servant at a doctor’s house in my village [Talegaon Dashasar in Amravati, Maharashtra] for two years,” he said. “He got me a job at a spinning mill in 1970. I worked there for five years before the mill shut down. Then I briefly took up farming.”