A day before the 71st Republic Day the government announced the list of the 118 recipients of the Padma Shri Award 2020 and one name that created curiosity was Harekala Hajabba.
A humble 68-year-old orange seller from Karnataka, Harekala Hajabba would have never thought of winning the highest civilian awards for the work he was doing selflessly for years now.
IFS officer Praveen Kaswan took to his twitter and shared the inspiring story of Harekala. "This fruit seller from Dakshin Kannada is educating poor children in his village of Newpadapu from a decade in a mosque", he wrote.
He further added that Hajabba received the news when he was standing "in a line on a ration shop and authorities informed him that he got #Padma Shri."
The tweet has gone viral now. It has received more than 6.8k likes and almost 2k replies.
According to a report on the BBC, there was no school in Harekala Hajabba's village, Newpadapu. He saved 2000 from his earnings to set up one in the mosque. As the number of students grew, he used all his savings and even took a loan to buy land for the school.
Hajabba is uneducated and in conversation with The News Minute reveals that an encounter with foreign tourists led him to his decision.
"The couple were asking me the price of oranges, but then I did not understand. Despite my best efforts, I could not talk in anything besides Tulu and Beary language. The couple walked away. I felt very bad and felt that at least the children of my own village should not be in a similar situation. I realised the manner in which communication can help one to progress in life, and at the same time bring people together," he said to The News Minute.
Hajabba's story has inspired many and people are praising him for his selfless act.
