Orange Vendor Receives Padma Shri for Building School
Harekala Hajabba, an orange vendor, has been bestowed with the Padma Shri - India’s highest civilian honour.
After Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri is the fourth-highest civilian award in India. The names of the Padma Shri winners were announced in January 2020 but the ceremony could not be held because of the pandemic. Finally yesterday on 8 November, President of India Ramnath Kovind honoured 119 people with the Padma Shri award. These 119 people were from various fields like business, movies, science, etc. The function took place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. Among the awardees are Kangana Ranaut, Adnan Sami, Ekta Kapoor, Karan Johar and late singer S P Balasubramaniam. After receiving the award Kangana had said, “I started my journey from a small village in Himachal Pradesh, and for me it is a very big deal to be in the same league as Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor, etc. We all knew these people, growing up. And who has not heard Adnan Sami ji’s songs? For a girl like me, to get a Padma Shri alongside them is a matter of pride.”
Not only celebrities received the Padma Shri award. Harekala Hajabba, a 68-year-old fruit seller from Mangalore in Karnataka. He earns only Rs 150 every day. Hajabba has received the Padma Shri. You may all wonder why. Many years ago, when a foreign tourist asked him the price of an orange in English, he did not understand what had been said and felt embarrassed as he was not educated. That day he vowed to build a school for children so they get educated and do not suffer like him. With his meagre earning of Rs 150 per day, he saved money and built a school in 2000 on 1-acre of land. Today, the school has 175 students with classes up to the 10th standard. The Indian government recognised his efforts to provide education to children and decided to award him with the Padma Shri.
