TIRUCHY: To ignite the urge for reading, a fruit vendor in Thanjavur has been distributing books to his customers every single day for the past 12 years. On Tuesday, World Book Day, he distributed books to around 120 school students.

N Haja Moideen (64), a Class 9 dropout who has been running a fruit stall for more than three decades, decided to distribute books to his customers. “I used to study well and scored good marks in Class 8. However, due to my family’s financial situation, I had to stop studies in Class 9 and find a job. So, at an early age, I started working in a fruit stall in Thanjavur and later opened my own shop. Though my business picked up well, the frustration of dropping out haunted me a lot,” Moideen said.

About 12 years ago, he decided to do his bit to cultivate reading habit among people and he started to distribute books on various subjects. He gave books on general knowledge, home tips, life history of leaders, Siddha medicine, science fiction, spoken English and various other language guides.

On Tuesday, World Book Day, Moideen went to Ganesa Vidyalaya Aided Government Middle School in flower market and distributed books to all the 120 students. “As school vacation commences from Wednesday, I thought the students could utilise the holidays constructively,” he said.