Adhanga Mallikeswarpur village is about 55 km away from Cuttack. That's how far Sagar Pradhan would travel to gain access to books on space and technology while in school. That's because, back in his village, the books he longed to read were not available or were too costly. Now, he has made it his mission to write books in the same field and ensure that they are affordable. That's not all. Along with nurturing an ardent love for books, Sagar has a heart that beats for the environment. That's why, since his first book Basic Java, which was published in 2013, this 30-year-old has been donating all the proceeds from his books to plantation drives. "Even if I get any honorariums from speaking engagements, I donate it. Then there are the 28 research articles that I have written from which I get a royalty sometimes. I direct that towards planting trees too," says the youngster sincerely.
And his sincerity has received a hat tip and that too from the United Nations! The international organisation sent over a momento on the momentous occasion of World Environment Day to the environment-conscious Odia as recognition of his efforts to #BeatAirPollution. Plus, they dubbed him World Environment Day Hero! Yes, World Environment Day is on June 5, but this recognition is a delayed one. Allow us to explain. UN's Environment Day theme for 2019 was #BeatAirPollution and 2020 was when the pandemic caused great anguish, thus the recognition was delayed.
Now that we've got the technicalities out of the way, we ask the youngster how he feels about it! He sheepishly shares, "I have worked with many NGOs and I am a part of certain international associations as well, but I have no clue how I got this recognition." We'd say that it was your green heart that helped you earn it, young man!
Believe it or not, his writing books actually dates back to writing impeccable notes back when he was in school and also when he was pursuing his Engineering in Information Technology from Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), Rourkela. "People used to always ask for my notes and take photocopies. Since then, I have wanted to write something that would help people even more," says the youngster who is currently working at Colt Technology Services in Bengaluru as Technical Lead - Billing Solutions and Control. Till date, he has penned five books and two ebooks, his most recent release being E-commerce and Enterprise Resources Planning, and continues to crusade for the same cause. But he tells us that he is going to take his cause even further. "All this while, I have been writing in English, but now, I want to start writing in Odia so that even people from my village can make the most of it," he informs.
The UN's acknowledgement isn't the only feather in Sagar's cap. His efforts have been recognised time and time again, including a token of appreciation from the Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal. "I have always drawn inspiration from late Dr Abdul Kalam. He could have easily worked at NASA and they would have welcomed him with open arms. But he decided to work for ISRO, for our country. In the same way, I want to work for my state, my country," he says with determination.
For more on him check out facebook.com/sagarpradhan1992
