03 Feb 2026
From Bus Conductor to Padma Shri - Builder of India’s Largest Free Library
Anke Gowda, a 75-year-old Padma Shri awardee from Karnataka, has spent over five decades building one of India’s largest free-access libraries. From humble beginnings as a bus conductor, he devoted his earnings and life to collecting books and promoting literacy in a rural setting through his library, Pustaka Mane.