“On reaching Kanyakumari, after seeing people of India reeling under poverty and ignorance, Swami Vivekananda concluded that a real purposeful life starts with the question – What can I do for my country?”, Bhide told the students of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Indore on January 12, 2013. Bhide, national vice president of Vivekananda Kendra, further described Vivekananda’s journey through India before he reached Kanyakumari in 1892 and then posed a few questions to the impressionable IIM students. 

She herself had left her home in Maharashtra to be a full time worker at Kanyakumari and dedicated her life for social service under the banner of the organization started as a living memorial to Swami Vivekananda. An ordinary Indian doing extraordinary work!

For Karimul Haque, who lost his mother 15 years ago to the absence of a vehicle to take her to the nearest hospital, a chance few years later became his mission. His coworker collapsed in the field in front of him, prompting Haque to tie him to his back and take him on a bike to Jalpaiguri Hospital, 50 kms away. Of course, his coworker’s life was saved.

Haque’s two-wheeler has been the only lifeline for 20-odd villages in and around Dhalabari in that district, part of West Bengal. The area lacks basic healthcare facilities, ferrying a patient to the hospital in an ambulance is a luxury mostly elusive for a majority in the region. Haque has also started providing basic care at the people’s doorstep after taking intensive training from local doctors. He has single handedly saved over 3000 lives on his mission. So much for an ordinary tea garden worker!

That is what makes Haque and Bhide special. That is what makes them stand out in the crowd of millions and millions of ordinary Indians. And that is what got them selected from more than 18,000 nominations for Padma Awards.  

Indeed Haque and Bhide along with several of the unsung heros were honoured this year, in what is being labeled as a clear departure from the past. For instance, 1925 born V Koteswaramma, she has had an incredible journey from a small village to an eminent person running educational institutions. She lost her mother when she was just two. The girl from a tiny village Gosala near Vijayawada went on to become first woman graduate in the Vijayawada taluk thanks to her determination, her endless efforts at overcoming grim odds. Koteswaramma knew education opens up new vistas of growth as it did for her – “in those days, it was very difficult to get girls educated as no girls would step out of home after crossing 13 years,” she told – and so she strove hard to bring that quality change in lives of others.

The state level and national level ‘Best Teacher’ awardee, she set up Montessori Junior and Degree Colleges and later the Montessori College of Education, offering the entire range from KG to PG.

A perfect example can be said that of Sukri Bommagowda, also called the nightingale of Halakki Vokalinga tribes in Karnataka. The singer and performer of tribal folk music for almost six decades now, the social activist led a protest against the sale of liquor at Badigeri haadi (a small hamlet). She has also been instrumental in preserving cultural heritage by way of singing songs to save the culture from disappearing.

Another grass root person is ‘Eco Baba’ Balbir Singh Seechewal, who has resurrected the 160-kms long Kali Bein river in Punjab by mobilising local volunteers and developing the Seechewal Model of underground sewerage system. He mobilized volunteers and raised funds from locals to first create awareness amongst locals to not dispose sewage into the river; led to a clean riverbed; restored natural spring and brought the river to life again. That is what sets him apart. Scores of Gurus have become visible across media scene thanks to their celebrity followers but Seechewal stands out tall amongst them for his humble background and grass root work.

Similar is the case of Shekhar Naik. While his counterparts from other forms of cricket have nearly an iconic following, Naik, a blind cricketer, – who has a career span of 13 years with 32 centuries to his credit in 67 matches – is hardly known to even die hard cricket fans, forget rest of India. Naik was born to a poor family at a nondescript village in Karnataka. He rose literally through the ranks in his cricket matches, fought a untrustworthy system and yet achieved excellence – comparable to his ‘peers who can see’ from cricketing world. But as the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) is yet to get recognition from the BCCI, Naik and his ilk are made to suffer needlessly.

“Despite representing India for 13 years, I don’t get any money for playing cricket. It is my NGO Samarthanam, where I work as a sports coordinator, which pays me Rs 15,000 as monthly salary,” Naik told.

Indeed, an ordinary man with extraordinary vision (pun intended). Hope, the Padma award will change the situation for better for Naik.

And hope also that the trend or recognising the unsung will continue every year from now onwards.

(Author is journalist. The opinions expressed above are her personal.)