Book Title: My Silent Family: Odes To My Kitchen Saviours
Author: Prakash Rao
Category: Author Feature | Poetry | Literature
A good writer does not always need an extraordinary experience to find an interesting story. Sometimes, the best ideas are already present in everyday life, waiting for someone to notice them. This is exactly what makes Prakash Rao’s approach to writing so interesting. With his poetry collection My Silent Family, he introduces readers to a world where common household appliances become characters with their own personalities.
Prakash Rao’s professional life is rooted in science and engineering. He is a chemical engineer with a PhD in Catalysis Engineering and has worked in areas including Catalysis, Polymer Technology, Membrane Technology, and Water Treatment. His scientific career involves understanding processes, exploring technology, and finding practical solutions. But his interests are not limited to laboratories and research. He also enjoys writing poetry and exploring the creative side of ordinary life.
What makes Rao different is his choice of subjects. While many poets write about relationships, memories, nature, and emotions, he has chosen something that most people would never consider poetic. His book brings attention to the machines that surround us at home, including refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, pressure cookers, and coffee makers.
For Rao, these machines are not simply objects designed to perform tasks. They are dependable helpers that quietly make life comfortable. His poetry imagines what these appliances might say if they could speak and how they might behave if they had human personalities.
This unusual idea gives My Silent Family a lighthearted and entertaining quality. Readers can imagine a pressure cooker proudly whistling in the kitchen, a microwave helping with a quick meal, or a coffee maker making a sleepy morning a little better. These familiar experiences become enjoyable subjects through the author’s imagination.
However, the book is not only about making readers smile. There is a thoughtful idea behind its humour. Modern technology has made household responsibilities much easier, but people rarely stop to appreciate it. We quickly notice when a machine stops working, yet we hardly think about how useful it is when everything runs smoothly.
Through his poetry, Rao encourages readers to develop a little more gratitude for the conveniences they enjoy every day.
Another interesting aspect of his writing is how naturally his two interests come together. Science helps him understand the importance of machines, while poetry allows him to imagine their place in human life. Rather than keeping these interests separate, he uses both to create something original.
His writing also shows that creativity has no fixed boundaries. A subject does not need to be emotional, dramatic, or mysterious to become meaningful. Even a small household object can inspire a poem when viewed with curiosity.
My Silent Family reflects Rao’s interest in humour, observation, and simple human experiences. The collection offers a refreshing change for readers who enjoy poetry with familiar subjects and a cheerful message.
Through this book, Prakash Rao reminds us that the ordinary world is full of possibilities. We only need to observe it more closely.
His work celebrates an interesting truth about creativity: sometimes, the most unexpected ideas come from the things we have been looking at all our lives.
And in Prakash Rao’s world, even the machines in our kitchens have stories worth telling.
