His own school; selling oranges on the streets; ultimately reached the nation’s highest honor.

Without ever stepping inside a school, Harekal Hajabba (64), who once sold oranges on the streets of Mangaluru and used that income to establish a school in his own village, was honored by the nation with the Padma Shri award. He received this award in recognition of his lifelong dedication to ensuring that children in his village did not suffer the same lack of education that he himself had faced.

Hajabba, who started selling oranges in the 1970s, could speak Kannada, Tulu, and Byari, but had no knowledge of English. This became a difficulty when dealing with foreign customers. Determined that the children of his village should not face the same struggles, he began to dream of starting a school.

He set aside a large share of his meager earnings from selling oranges and, on June 6, 1999, opened a school in a small room inside the Twaha Mosque in Harekal. In the beginning, he struggled to bring in students, but going door to door, he managed to enroll 28 children. All the money he earned selling oranges went toward paying the teacher’s salary, leaving his own family to live in near-poverty. On days when his business failed, his wife and children sustained the family by rolling beedis.

When he applied for government recognition for the school, he faced the requirement of having a dedicated building and land. Through begging and borrowing, he managed to purchase 40 cents of land in 2001. His selfless struggle soon attracted attention, and many honors came his way. The Kannada daily Kannada Prabha named him “Man of the Year” and awarded him ₹1 lakh. In 2007, he received CNN-IBN’s “The Real Hero” award, along with ₹5 lakhs, which he used entirely for school construction. The award ceremony was hosted by Malayalam cinema’s beloved actor Mohanlal. In 2011, the Karnataka government honored him with the Rajyotsava Award.

Today, the school stands tall on one and a half acres, with two buildings and ten classrooms, spreading the light of knowledge in the village of New Padappu. Into a place once shrouded in darkness, Hajabba brought the brightness of learning. This “ordinary yet extraordinary” man was recognized with one of the nation’s highest civilian honors — the Padma Shri.