Kundapur: Spreading news with love - 'Paper Acharya' sets example of selfless service
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur
Kundapur, Oct 4: 'Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love', said Mother Teresa. Epitomising this very thought, Kundapur's Shankar Acharya has set an example to all by silently serving patients at the government hospital in his own unique way.
Most of us love to start the morning off with a look at the headlines on a fresh newspaper with or without a cup of hot coffee in hand. This is exactly why Shankar Acharya or ‘Paper Acharya’ as he is fondly called, ensures that the patients at the Government Hospital in Kundapur have the day’s newspaper before them each morning. He supplies free copies of four English and six Kannada newspapers to all the patients at the hospital. On any day, there are about 50 to 60 patients in the hospital.
Acharya, owner of the Acharya Book Stall in the town that sells and distributes newspapers, has been rendering this novel service for more than two years now.
This service also helped care givers who sit with the patients to pass their time or read out the news to the patients. All the newspapers are stamped with the message, “Please read the newspaper and also pass it on to others to be read.”
Private Hospital Fund
Acharya also sells about 30 newspapers to five private hospitals in the town without taking any commission on the copies. The money collected by selling the newspapers is deposited in the hospitalsconcerned. “This money is used to help poor patients who seek treatment in the private hospitals,” said Acharya.
He began this novel service on November 1, 2010 and the money collected as deposit in the private hospitals till date is Rs 2.75 lac. Of this, Rs 1.5 lac was spent on paying the bills of poor patients.
How did he hit upon the novel idea? Acharya saya that in 2008, both his parents became ill and were admitted to hospital. While he was in the hospital to take care of them, he realized that it was difficult to pass time. This was when the novel idea of providing newspapers to hospitals occurred to him.
But it was only November 2010, after 25 years in the newspaper distribution business, that Acharya put his idea into practice.
May his tribe increase.