All through the day, he ferries passengers from one destination to another. But, unlike his fellow rickshaw-pullers, Rajinder Kumar alias Rangeela does not while his time waiting for another passenger, but pens Bhojpuri lyrics. And after writing at least 10 stanzas, he gets them recorded in the form of an audio cassette.

“Rajinder Kumar ‘Rangeela’ is my title name”, he told The Indian Express, adding, “My name as a lyricist is Rajinder Kumar Yadav.”

Bubbling with confidence he says, “My third audio cassette Ho Jai Hungama was recorded in March this year, and was released in the market. I hope to get a good response from it as people who love listening to Bhojpuri are appreciating it.”

It was five years ago when his first audio cassette Maithili was released. The album had songs written in a Bihari dialect Maithili and was released by a Delhi-based company — Neelam.

“It flopped. But I worked harder and succeeded in bringing out a second cassette of Bhojpuri songs called Orhaniya Apna Sambhal. I got good response for this as I was paid Rs 15,000 by the company after the sale of the cassettes. Now, the third cassette has also been launched in the market and I hope I get a better response for this than the previous ones,” said Rangeela.

By now, Rangeela has been able to invest Rs 75,000 in his three cassettes. He says, “I don’t care much about what I earn. My aim is to write and sing so well that T-series approaches me for recording one day.”

... contd.