Hajabba: From fruit-seller to educationist

Silver-haired and clad in a white dhoti, the epitome of Gandhian simplicity, Harekala Hajabba stood barefoot beside President Ramnath Kovind.

Lovingly known as ‘Akshata Santha’, for his immense contributions towards education, Hajabba, a fruit seller, received one of the nation’s highest civilian awards on Monday.

Hajabba, who has spent a lifetime selling oranges in Mangaluru’s Central Market, never went to school.

He was deeply embarrassed when a foreigner asked him, in English, about the price of an orange. He decided, at that moment, to build a school in his village to ensure that its children didn’t meet the same fate he did.