hyderabad imagine poetry being sold off the streets yes you heard that right with a noble mission to revive telugu poetry in the two states 50yearold sheik sadiq ali is seen pushing around his cart which doesnt sell vegetables but poetry the declining state of telugu poetry has always bothered me so i decided to take it to the masses and what better way to do it than a pushcart sadiq explains while most people lecture on the need for reviving the telugu poetry from airconditioned auditoriums he decided to do stay connected with lovers of literature though he doesnt have shortage of resources to hold book exhibitions the 50yearold decided to use a pushcart for his mission to buttress his argument for adopting this unconventional method to promote telugu poetry he says pusharts are something that people feel comfortable with they have been a part of our culture for ages it will be inappropriate for a nontraditional object to promote traditional poetry sadiq now takes his pushcart around town one area at a time holding forth on poetry and inviting people to read books with over 135 titles on his pushcart sadiq literally carries a mobile bookstore to your doorstep what surprises me is the kind of response i receive from people of all age groups those who are new to telugu poetry spend some time reading a book and end up buying it these are small steps towards the bigger mission says an earnest sadiq a native of kalluru in khammam distruct and a postgraduate in telugu literature from osmania university sadiq has books by various telugu poets on his cart the cart thopudu bandi adorns pictures of famous telugu poets like sri sri arudra and maqdoom mohinuddin people on facebook started seeing what i am doing and sent in their books so if someone buys the book the poet gets the money which in a way encouraging poetry he elaborates sadiq who was a journalist with a telugu daily udayam which was shut down long ago embarked on his his literary journey on february 22 when he travelled from ramnagar to peoples plaza in the city ever since he has been travelling to one part of the city everyday promoting telugu literature in his own unique way and he does not intend to stop until he covers all the districts in telangana and andhra pradesh there is a lot to be done and there is not much time all i want is to bring back the golden era of telugu poetry he says with an air of determination his initiative has reached many through social networking sites and people like chukka ramaiah a wellknown educationist have heaped praise on him for this unique initiative but sadiq who left his marriage bureau business isnt pushing around the 200kilo cart full of poetry for fame or money i have enough to make ends meet what i am doing isnt for a living it is out