For people in the 21st century, we generally believe money is the only thing that matters. Proving this societal thought process wrong, various brave citizens of India have emerged and worked for the society effortlessly with the little means available to them.
The government of India recognized these citizens by honoring them with one of the highest honours- by awarding them with “Padmashree”. In this blog we will explain and discuss each of these one by one.
Felicitations Of The Awardees
Various brave and strong- willed citizens were awarded. But the 3 most important people who have a special place in our heart and have continued to help and heal the society with the very little means that they had, and which they decided to use efficiently are:
Harekala Hajabba
A hardworking common man who has has been selling oranges at Mangalore bus depot since 1977. He earned an amount of 150 rupees per day through his hard work throughout years. He never went to school; so when one day many years ago a foreigner asked him the price of orange in english; he was unable to understand. He was very sad and embarrassed. That very day, he decided that he would build a school for kids with his life savings.
With his entrepreneurial spirit he was able to bring an educational revolution, by opening a school. Today 175 students are in the institution and have been successfully receiving education.
The brave spirit and kind thinking for the society is what makes this brave hearted respected man different from the society.
Tulsi Gowda
Tulasi Gowda is a 72 year old Indian environmentalist from the Honalli Village in the state of Karnataka. She is now also popularly known as the “ Encyclopedia Of The Forest”.
She has planted more than 30, 000 saplings and has contributed her life to the conservation of the environment for the past 6 decades. She has actively participated and shared her vast storehouse of knowledge of plants, herbs and trees with the younger generation, so as to make them aware of the importance of conservation at this very point of our lives.
Coming from a very simple background; thinking about the well being of our environment, our home, she has proved that all we need is a greater understanding and mentality to conserve the environment, together as a society so as to see successful results.
Rahibai Soma Popere
Popularly known as the “seed mother” for conserving the indigenous seeds. She is a hardworking farmer from the Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. She has encouraged and brought about a revolution in the field of indigenous agriculture. She is associated and visited by the BAIF Development and Research Foundation.
She is also among the 3 Indians on the BBC list of “100 Women 2018”.
She is an inspiration for all the people in the society as to how simplicity and understanding of our surroundings and environment ; and most importantly awareness can prove to be beneficial in making a change in the environment.
The above people are an example of willingness to change the society by taking a step. It is us who need to be inspired and motivated to make a change because all it takes is a thought, that can bring about such an enormous change to the world; that we can get closer to improving our planet, our home, one step at a time.