Nirmala Sitharaman quotes Telugu poet Gurajada Appa Rao in her Budget 2025 speech. Who was he?

A revered Indian playwright, poet and social reformer, Gurajada Appa Rao's 1892 play, Kanyasulkam, or Bride Price, is regarded as one of the greatest works in Telugu drama

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman invoked Telugu poet and playwright Gurajada Appa Rao in her Budget 2025-26 speech in the Parliament today. She started her speech with: “Desamante Matti Kaadoi, Desamante Manushuloi”. This line translates to 'A country is not just its soil, a country is its people.

Who was Gurajada Appa Rao

A revered Indian playwright, poet and social reformer, Gurajada Appa Rao was born in Rayavaram village of Vizianagram district of present-day Andhra Pradesh in 1862. Best known for his contributions to Telugu literature, Appa Rao pursued higher studies at University of Madras’ M. R. College after finishing early education in Vizianagaram, where he was exposed to English literature and philosophies. These early exposure to diverse literary traditions influenced his writing style. He worked as a lecturer, and then as a government official, but his passion for literature and reforms stayed undiminished.

His play Kanyasulkam (1892), or Bride Price, is regarded as one of the greatest works in Telugu drama. A hard-hitting critique of the social practices prevalent in 19th-century Andhra society, Kanyasulkam challenged issues like child marriage, dowry and the practice where older men paid money to marry younger girls.

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Kanyasulkam was also celebrated for its language: Appa Rao’s style of using colloquial Telugu made the play a hit among the commoners.

Also a popular poet, Appa Rao’s poem, Desamunu Preminchumanna ("Love the Country"), urged people to serve the country, and take part in the Indian freedom movement. A fierce advocate of social reforms, Appa Rao used his language to bring about social change, and criticised social evils with in his plays and poems. He encouraged rational thinking, self-respect and rejected following blind traditions.

Gurajada Appa Rao passed away in 1915.