Pallipattu Nagaraju, a young Telugu teacher at a remote school in Chittoor district, has been selected for the Kendra Sahitya Akademi’s Yuva Puraskar award for his anthology titled Yaalai Poodsindhi (Time Is Up) — a compilation of 52 thought-provoking poems that examine contemporary socioeconomic issues.
“Through my poems, I want to send across a message that the time has come not only to raise pertinent questions on contemporary issues but also to rise to the occasion in addressing them,” Mr. Nagaraju says in a conversation with The Hindu. A major theme of his poetry is the indifference of society towards pressing issues and the widening gap between the haves and have-nots.
