Social worker gets award

For 40-year-old contractor-turned-philanthropist Ravi Kakkepadavu an incident of getting tied in a room for stealing and eating cashew apple during his childhood still remains afresh.

“Whenever I see abandoned children now, this past incident of mine passes through my mind. I try within my means to help such people and provide them the necessary support by which they are not forced into hardship that I have gone through,” he said.

Mr. Kakkepadavu revealed a glimpse of his personality after receiving this year’s Mangaluru Press Club Award given away jointly by the Mangaluru Press Club, Dakshina Kannada Union of Working Journalists and Patrikabhavan Trust, here on Sunday.

Mr. Kakkepadavu, a native of Bantwal taluk, could go to school for only about 15 days and had to drop out after his father, a carpenter, lost one of his legs. He started earning a living as a newspaper hawker in Dharmasthala. He later worked in Udupi and in hotels in Belagavi and in Mumbai, where he had to work in harsh conditions. He started earning as a coconut vendor in Mumbai when he lost his father.

“Thanks to a vow taken by mother, I could come out of the dark world in Mumbai and start living honourably in Kukke Subrahmanya,” he said. His first job was a painting assignment in a junior college and it was followed by building a house for ₹40,000. “I have moved on and now, a large number of people work with me,” he said. Through his Anugraha Constructions, he has so far constructed more than 250 houses.

Apart from many locals, he has employed people from North India for his works.

Senior journalist Pushparaj said that Mr. Kakkepadavu has been giving away textbooks and notebooks to poor children. He has been admitting abandoned people to hospitals and arranging for their care. During the two COVID-19 waves when business was down, he gave funds to his fellow workers to tide over financial crisis. “Almost 50% of his earnings goes towards philanthropic activities,” Mr. Pushparaj said and added that these activities have continued even as there is a slow-down in his construction work.