The Tea Seller Who Taught the Slums

A roadside tea seller who spent half of everything he earned to educate slum children and donated blood many times over to save strangers.

Devarapalli Prakash Rao sold tea on the streets of Cuttack, a trade he had worked in since childhood. He was a man of very modest income, yet he made an extraordinary decision: to spend half of everything his tea stall earned on educating children from the city's slums, who would otherwise have had no chance at schooling.

He founded a school, known as 'Asha Ashwasan', Hope and Assurance, for slum children, giving them lessons, encouragement and a path out of poverty. Dozens of children studied under his care, receiving the early education that Rao believed was their right, funded quietly and steadily from the proceeds of cups of tea.

Rao's generosity extended to giving of himself quite literally. A committed blood donor, he gave blood many times over the course of his life to help those in need, becoming as well known for saving lives through donation as for educating children.

In 2019, President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Padma Shri upon him for his social work in affordable education and health, a national honour for a man who had never sought recognition. Prakash Rao passed away in January 2021. He is remembered as living proof that world-changing generosity does not require wealth, only heart.