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Meet Harekala Hajabba, an orange seller who is set to bag Padmashri Award

Here is the life journey of 68-year-old Harekala Hajabba, who built a school after being humiliated for not knowing English


Mangaluru: 68-year-old Harekala Hajabba saved up money, even took a loan to buy land to build a school. Hajabba, an illiterate man from Karnataka's Mangaluru city, constructed a school for poor and underprivileged children. The orange vendor's life changed 20 years ago when a foreign couple approached him to buy the fruit.

Hajabba was unable to communicate with the couple as he didn't know English. This incident served as a wake-up call, and he thought of opening a school at a mosque in Newpadpu in Harekala in 1999. Soon, the strength of students grew and the school was shifted to a rented building. Later, Hajabba managed to get a piece of land sanctioned by the government. He used his earnings to level the land and build classrooms. Finally, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Lower School was inaugurated in 1999.