Waiting on words

He says,“I had lost my parents early in life and was brought up by my elder sister and her husband. As a teenager,I always loved writing poems despite not having a complete education; later I graduated to writing shayaris and ghazals. However,it was in 1995,at the age of 25 that I started sending my works to newspapers and magazines. After that,there has been no looking back; Over the years,my shayaris and other couplets have been published in many regional newspapers and magazines.”

Rao,a regular at mushairas and other such literary events in the locality,claims to have written over a thousand ghazals and poems. “I do not confine myself to a single topic when writing poems. My poems say about a variety of subjects from love to heartbreak to sorrow to patriotism as I don’t believe in restricting myself to any particular cause.”

Rao is no stranger to titles and awards. Amongst the various local awards that he has received over the years,his work has earned him the Kavi Ratna Puraskar and Ambedkar National Award from the Dalit Sahitya Akademi — an organisation working to promote Dalit literature,encourage Dalit writers and recognise the services of those engaged in the field of Dalit welfare.

“I was also honoured by former President Abdul Kalam at an event in Delhi. It was definitely one of the finest moments in my life,” he says proudly,before turning to his work while his colleagues gently tease him on his shayar status.