These 5 common people from Odisha will inspire you to the core
1. Prakash Rao: A tea seller by profession, social activist & teacher by heart gives a new lease of life to many.
Prakash, an ordinary roadside tea vendor does more than just running a stall by himself in one of the impoverished regions of Cuttack. Once denied of education, Prakash now is a messiah to the kids of his slum whom he gives free access to studies in his little school and later on enrols them for higher studies. Although having burden of his family, Prakash manages to educate 70 underprivileged kids by saving on half of his earnings. That apart, he is a good Samaritan for needy patients and has time and again donated blood to them, almost 205 times until now. Such a big hearted man never really bothered for the sort of chiding he faced from everyone around him. The fact that his selfless deeds have now nurtured the society which makes him an extraordinary human-being totally!
He was felicitated by the Odisha Human Rights Commission and his students have won many laurels to the state.
2. Bharat Sahoo: A remarkable man for the needy, plays many roles of life-saving for the needy.
Almost his entire saving goes up in serving the deprived souls. Left behind is the blessing he receives from those immense needful whom he never hesitates to help. Bharat is a well known mausa running a hotel in the Capital Hospital, Unit-6 Medical of Bhubaneswar which has a small betel selling space as well. Serving free meals to any hunger-stricken person is something which he usually does but he is noted for his deed of helping patients who are in short of money to cure themselves. He provides them financial support and ensures that the family is supported well till the end. An old man himself, Bharat mausa has never been tired of helping people!
Welfare organisations like Marwari Yuva Manch & Sahitya Sansad of Khurda have awarded him for his devotion to mankind.
3. Resham Singh: A braveheart who caters to the dead.
For the past 17 years, Resham is involved in the daring role of transporting dead bodies in his car to the cremation ground. He even takes up the charge of dead ones in and around Bhubaneswar lying unclaimed and cremates them paying all their ritual costs. During any funeral ceremony, Bharat stands strong to support the bereaved families and later helps them financially to lessen their woes. A man, who witnesses almost 3-5 deaths a day prides on his unusual profession. Even during odd hours of the night, he does not panic to serve the dead. A true Punjabi spirit, we must say!
Once he was offered a lakh of rupees for helping a bereaved, to which he denied and later said him to donate the money to Gurudwara.
4. Siba Shekhar Jena: The way he donates makes this tea vendor similar to the donating virtue of Karna.
Struck by acute poverty, Siba realised the distress of the poor at a very young age. He makes his livelihood from a tea stall which functions near the Maharaja theatre, Bhubaneswar. His act of generous donation is immense. Once he helped a polio affected person by gifting him a three wheeler cycle and later gave money for his son to be educated. The other time he travelled to a nearby village for helping a family whom he read about in the local newspaper. At times he even conducts sessions to raise awareness on women safety and child trafficking. The way he benefits mankind truly makes him a motivator!
He once donated Rs. 16,124 to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) from his small savings.
5. Kamala Lochan Baliarsingh: A beggar who doesn’t get to eat, feeds the strays!
Homeless and hungry, 60 years old Kamala loiters around the Bhubaneswar railway station and keeps the platform free from plastic water bottles thrown carelessly by people. Moving around the coaches of trains, he sometimes gets left-over food. But what he does with the food is something above any service to humanity. The stray dogs around are fed well with all the left-overs he comes across. He doesn’t even bother to fill his stomach but passionately collects food during the day to later feed some 6-7 dogs at night. Kamala knows no hunger, no suffering, just he is committed to keep the platform clean and make the strays eat well!
He left his job 30 years ago and since then has devoted himself to cleanliness and helping stray creatures.
To help the needy, one doesn’t require to be self sufficient. Just the spirit of giving something back to the society will suffice. And these people have proved just that!