Rajyotsava awardees go over the moon

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Karnataka Rajyotsava awardees who were honoured at the Ravindra Kalakshetra Building in Bengaluru on Wednesday said that they found joy in their accomplishments for different reasons.

Charmadi Hasanabba, who resides near the ghat section nearly equidistant from both Mangaluru and Chikkamagaluru has helped hundreds of people who got injured in accidents on the treacherous road.

He said that he found more satisfaction in helping save lives and insisted that the award was just a pleasant bonus for the recognition it presented.

Tayyab Khan Inamdar, a theatre artist from Yadahalli village in Bilgi taluk of Bagalkote district said that the cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and the affirmation from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah brought him much joy. Hasanabba (63), who hails from Ujre in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, didn’t have the advantage of a formal education.

However, in his late teens, he managed to raise enough capital to set up a hotel which he aptly named Charmadi after the ghat. As his hotel did well, his living standards got better.

In his mid-30s back in 1985, he decided that he should personally help accident victims near the ghat road. He recalled that he initially owned an ‘Ambassador’ car in the 90s, which he used to ferry injured and maimed commuters to the hospital which is some 20 to 25 kilometres from the ghat section.

He later switched to a Maruti 800, then much later an Innova Crista. “Just 20 years ago, there were no mobile phones or towers. If something happened near the ghat sections some eight to 10 kilometres away, people have to physically come here and tell us. It took us half an hour to get there (due to the treacherous ghats). Our main intention was to prevent the deaths that occurred due to blood loss.

“We figured that saving the lives of human beings was an immensely good deed pleasing to God. We didn’t ask if the person in need was Hindu, Muslim or Christian. We started this at a time when people were afraid of getting involved in police cases and giving statements to cops and courts,” Hasanabba said, adding that it was overwhelming when people came to his house after recovering.

“My family and especially my mother used to say what a good deed it was,” he said.

Theatre artist since late teens

Tayyab Khan Inamdar said that he had been very pleased with the recognition for his plays which he had been working on since he was 18.

He added that he had been overwhelmed by the warmth shown by Siddaramaiah and the rest of his administration, adding that his local (Bilgi) MLA JT Patil had introduced him to the CM.

He named some of his plays as ‘Bus Conductor’ and ‘Garibi Hatao’. “We do plays in both Urdu and Kannada,” Inamdar said.