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| credit:Thebetter India |
Through hard work and commitment nothing is difficult to accomplish. "Laxman Rao" is only one example of this. In a dream he came to Delhi, India's capital city to become a writer in 1975. Born in Maharashtra village Talegaon Dashasar, Laxman was inspired to take up writing himself by Gulshan Nanda 's writings. There were no schools in the village of Laxman so he had gone to Amravati to live there.
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| credit:AdmirableIndia |
However, he also had to work as a domestic help for three years due to financial difficulties in his family, and for five years at a spinning mill, while pursuing his schooling. Knowing that Delhi is the location of many publishing houses, Laxman decided to move there and take the writing more seriously.The transportation to the capital city itself was not an easy one. He was only able to reach Bhopal until all of his money was used up. Therefore he had to serve three months as a labourer at a construction site.
He finally reached Delhi in July 1975, as a 25-year-old young man. Everything he had at the time were two shirts, a 10th grade certificate of completion and the vision of one day becoming a good writer.But after living in Delhi, he found that there was no room in Delhi for a poor man like him. All publishers mock him and no one published his books. So he'd decided to publish his own book. He was determined and never gave up his dream of being a novelist. Before opening his own paan (betel leaves) store, he worked as a laborer and a waiter at a restaurant for two years.He serves tea near ITO until 9:00 pm and writes until 1:00 am. Thus he opened his own tea shop and began selling tea by 1980. Everything of his book is based on a story about real life. His first "Ramdas" novel is based on a village boy who drowned in a river and lost his life. His second novel, Nayi Duniya ki Nayi Kahani, is based on his journey to Delhi and his determination to be an author. He used all of his savings (rs:7000) in 1979, and published his first novel Nayi Duniya Ki Nayi Kahani himself
Being an editor means you have to sell your own book, too. Laxman used to do this by riding his bicycle through the city, stopping at libraries and schools, asking people if they'd be interested in reading his work.
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| credit:dontgiveupworld |
Today, every year he publishes 500 copies of 4 different titles. It costs around Rs 25,000-30,000 to publish one title. Every month, he says about 100 copies are sold from the tea shop itself, and the rest are sold via e-commerce websites. He is also currently working on 2 more novels.Following the publication of his first book, people began slowly recognizing him as an author. A senior leader of the Congress party came to learn about him in 1984, after reading a life-based post. He told about Laxman to India's then-PM, Indira Gandhi, and he was invited to meet and present her with his books. He had urged him to keep publishing.Despite being good as a writer, Laxman never relinquished the urge to learn, and continues his education even today.
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| credit:so.city |
At the age of 40 he passed the Class 12 CBSE exam from Patrachar School in Delhi, and then completed his graduation through a Delhi University correspondence course. He is currently pursuing an MA at IGNOU in Hindi.
Renu also became the book that Laxman personally introduced to the former Indian president, Pratibha Patil, who was so pleased with his work that on 23 July 2009 she invited him and his family to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
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| credit:IndiaTimes |
He's currently working on his forthcoming books — Barrister Gandhi, a social novel based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, and DANSH. Some of his other famous books are Narmada, Se Judi Bhartiya Rajneeti Parampara, Ahankaar, and Abhivyakti.
Laxman Rao refuses to take any individual funds and donations. Those who wish to donate are kindly encouraged instead to purchase one of its books.
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| credit:Publishing perspective |
"I'm happy with my life and I want to move ahead. I 'm optimistic that some day my books will make me a lot of money. So I am going to stop selling tea and write full time. Now that day isn't too far away, "he says with confidence.
