Laxman Rao

He is a tea seller

Who sits under a tree

Near Delhi’s ITO metro station

A well-respected author

Who has penned down many books

And my inspiration

Since last 7 to 8 years

Even when I didn’t met him in person

It happened like this

That I was aspiring to be a writer

But, didn’t had the confidence

While I was worrying

My eyes fell down

On one of his articles in Economic Times

It had words author and tea seller

This grabbed my attention

I picked the paper

And read the whole article

His story inspired me

Not because he had everything

But, because Rao didn’t had much in life

Rao is a man

Who didn’t had much in his life

Neither financially nor in terms of education

But, still he worked for many years

Read many papers, journals and books to craft his work

He was not lucky

While aspiring to be a writer

But, worked hard to get lucky

He even told me that there was a time

When people used to insult him

And mocked him

For being thinking to be a writer

Even after those words

He continued

Struggled and toiled

And became

A tea seller who is an author of many books

And won many prestigious awards

Given by eminent personalities like Pratibha Patil

While being a Delhiite

I never have the confidence to meet him

But, after few years of writing

I grasped the courage to meet him in person

That’s how

I started visiting him

After my office hours

No

Not for

Chai and mathi

But, for taking tips for writing

Under that tree

Sitting with him

I learnt a lot

About him

And life as well

More about life

Than about writing

Apart from different life lessons

The main one I learnt was that our respect lies in our work

Not in the social position we hold in the society

He worked no matter

People respect him or not

There was a group of young students and journalists that appreciated him

While there were people from his own strata the Chaiwalas and Rickshawalas

Who called him mad

But, no matter what

Rao continued to work

His daily routine is intact

Starting his writing at 9 am

In the first half he writes

While in the second half

He sells tea and his books

That’s how this simple man lives his life