Samidh Bhattacharyya

Online marketing specialist. Fan of NUFC, KKR & generally all sport. Amateur photographer. Proud বাঙালি. Admin @toonarmyindia

[Sann @san_x_m]

His name is Harekala Hajabba.

For decades he has sold oranges from a small cart near the bus stand in Mangaluru, Karnataka. He earns around a hundred and fifty rupees a day.

He has never been to school and cannot read or write. By every measure the world uses, he is a poor, unlettered fruit seller.

One day, sometime in the 1990s, a foreign couple stopped at his cart and asked him, in English, the price of his oranges. He could not understand them and could not answer. They walked away.

The moment did not anger him. It shamed him. Then it changed him.

He decided that no child in his village should ever have to stand there the way he had, unable to understand a simple question, locked out by language and the lack of a school.

His village, Newpadpu, did not have one. The nearest school was about seven kilometres away.

So an illiterate orange seller earning a hundred and fifty rupees a day set out to build a school. He saved his coins, approached officials and donors, and donated his own land.

In the year 2000, the school opened with twenty-eight children in a place that had never had one.

Today that school teaches up to Class 10 and has around a hundred and seventy-five students. Children from his village now study in classrooms he helped build from the price of oranges.

People began calling him Akshara Santha, the saint of letters.

In 2020, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri, one of the nation’s highest civilian honours. He walked up barefoot, wearing a plain white dhoti, to receive it.

He said it was not his award. It belonged to the school.

He still sells oranges and has said he wants to use whatever he earns and receives to build a college next.

A man who could not answer one question in English made sure thousands of children after him would never be left speechless the same way.

Follow for stories India deserves to remember.

[Abijit Ganguly @AbijitG]

How is it not a bigger deal that US strikes have claimed 3 Indian lives? How's there no reciprocation at all? Or even an outrage by so many who claim to be nationalists? Where's our spine gone really?

[Samidh Bhattacharyya @sam2wit]

@UTDIMole Guti

[Animal signal @Animalsignal02]

End of Era. Machali (T-16) Queen of Ranthambore, Crocodile Killer.

The legendary tigress who ruled the wild has breathed her last

These final moments of the greatest queen Ranthambore has ever known. A chapter of tiger history closes forever

[Samidh Bhattacharyya @sam2wit]

@_onlyscott Di Maria

[Manisha Pande @MnshaP]

The story of the mattress shop that turned its stock into a safety net for Delhi fire victims: Riyazuddin & family are from Amroha. They’ve made Delhi their home for nearly half a century. Now, they may have made it a home worth returning to for several others ♥️
https://t.co/n1h7nNiPUM

[Samidh Bhattacharyya @sam2wit]

@ShashiTharoor Is it really proper to celebrate people who don’t identify themselves as Indians just because they are of Indian origin? What does it matter where your predecessors were born, if that country couldn’t do enough to stop them from leaving in the first place?

[Prakash Raj @prakashraaj]

In this Toxic atmosphere of sold out Godi Media and Whatsup Universities.. It’s our duty to stand by independent media . Do subscribe.. #justasking

[Samidh Bhattacharyya @sam2wit]

@Jennifer55gt exclusively

[Samidh Bhattacharyya @sam2wit]

@Axaxia88 is there a way we can donate so they can be reunited?

[Samidh Bhattacharyya @sam2wit]

@BabajiSutar3 agarkar

[This Account Makes You Happy @FeelYouHappy]

It was supposed to be a serious competition, but...

[Shalini Thackeray @ThakareShalini]

मुंबईतल्या भटक्या आणि पाळीव पण सोडून दिलेल्या प्राण्यांना हक्काचे घर मिळावे यासाठी Adopt A friend forever अशा पद्धतीची चळवळ सुरु झाली आहे. हा उपक्रम Teatro Bar & Grill, YODA आणि GoPaws यांच्या संयुक्त विद्यमाने राबवला जातोय. या उपक्रमांतर्गत एका मुक्या प्राण्याला त्यांचं हक्काचं घर मिळावं यासाठी प्राण्यांना दत्तक घेण्याची ही चळवळ सुरु झाली आहे. मुंबईत आज अशाच एका अनोख्या उपक्रमाचं आयोजन करण्यात आलं होतं. ज्यात सौ. शर्मिला ठाकरे या सहभागी झाल्या होत्या. शर्मिला वहिनी ज्या स्वतः एक प्राणीप्रेमी आहेत आणि मुक्या प्राण्यांसाठी त्या कायम आवाज उठवत असतात, त्यांच्यासाठी उपक्रम राबवत असतात.

या उपक्रमाला सौ. शर्मिला ठाकरे यांनी उपस्थित राहून प्राण्यांच्या दुरवस्थेचा प्रश्न देखील ऐरणीवर आणला. प्रसार माध्यमांशी संवाद साधताना “महानगरपालिकेचा मोकाट कुत्र्यांसाठी असलेला निधी नेमका जातो कुठे?” असा थेट सवाल त्यांनी उपस्थित केला.

#MNSAdhikrut

[Pune Mirror @ThePuneMirror]

Mumbai: A heartwarming moment from a train journey is winning hearts online after a street dog was seen resting peacefully inside an AC coach during intense summer heat. Instead of reacting negatively, passengers around the dog were seen smiling and allowing the animal to stay comfortably inside.

The touching scene has sparked praise on social media, with many people appreciating the kindness and compassion shown by fellow passengers during the extreme weather conditions. At a time when temperatures are soaring across many parts of the country, the small act of humanity has left a big impact online.

#StreetDog #Humanity #TrainJourney #ViralMoment #Punetimesmirror

[Vir Das @thevirdas]

Strongly urging legal minds to highlight what action residents, community, and pet owners can take against anyone in their midst who indulges in animal cruelty. Sharing a judgement is one thing, sharing concrete steps to help enforce it and prevent it’s abuse would be helpful too. A step by step guide for citizens please 🙏 This gets fought at the local level. Not just in corridors of power. Also strongly urging the ethical media, what’s left of it, to shine a light on anyone committing animal cruelty. People should know that harming animals is against the law, and comes with consequences.

[Vir Das @thevirdas]

Please meet our rescues from the streets of Goa. Stoopee and Lucy humbly requesting you to rescue as many of our street dogs as your home and heart will allow. Also requesting the govt to incentivise people to take dogs off the streets and into their homes. This has been implemented successfully in many countries, along with mass humane sterilisation drives which are the only real long term solution.

[Rajat Sharma @RajatSharmaLive]

Normally, I do not comment on Supreme Court judgements and only those who have a case can speak. But if a judgement is given against voiceless animals, then one has to raise their voice.
The court order is not practical, it is inhuman. Who will decide whether a stray dog is dangerous and it should be administered the death injection?
I feel, the court order will open up the gates of atrocities on voiceless stray dogs. Animal activist Menaka Gandhi's suggestion is right. If the State wants to lower the number of stray dogs, there should be a massive sterilization and vaccination drive for such homeless animals.
I would rather prefer the apex court to direct all state governments to start this on a war footing. https://t.co/Ig3seXU8Pf

[Vidit Sharma 🇮🇳 @TheViditsharma]

Every day, countless Indie dogs face hunger, heat, accidents, cruelty, and loneliness on the streets. Yet even after all the suffering, they still wag their tails, trust humans, and continue to love unconditionally.

Please don’t ignore them just because they are street dogs.
Our Indies are resilient, intelligent, affectionate, low-maintenance, and perfectly adapted to Indian weather conditions.

When you adopt an Indie, you save a soul that truly needs you.
You make space for another rescue.
You become someone’s entire world.

Adopt an Indie.
Give love a home.

#AdoptDontShop
#dogs

[Human Owned by Cat 😺 @Petswithaura]

An updated nighttime moment from Ichikawa Zoo… and Punch has everyone emotional again tonight. 🥺🌙🐒 Late in the evening, Punch was seen sitting quietly alone on monkey mountain holding OranMama tightly while the cold wind moved through the rocks around him. 🧸 And then came the moment nobody expected. Punch slowly leaned forward… gently kissed the plush toy… and pulled it even closer into his tiny arms like he was looking for comfort before sleeping. No chaos. No movement. Just little Punch quietly sitting in the dark with the one thing that always seems to make him feel safe. 🧡

[Sotic @bominouca]

In Turkey, an elderly man who makes a living by shining shoes is visited every morning at the same time by a cat who asks him to brush his fur.