A Childhood Full Of Hardships

He credits his mother for his intense love for the nation. He lost his father as a little three-year-old child. His mother underwent a lot of hardships to provide for her four sons. Getting Priyaranjan admitted to school was quite a hassle, as no school was willing to admit a student with speech difficulties. Surgery could have cured his condition, but his mother failed to afford the expense despite relentless hard work.

At his school, he was a regular victim of taunts and teases from his classmates for his speech impairment. Battling through the bullying, Priyaranjan established himself as a professional football player with his local athletic club.

National Flag Is The ‘Saree’ Of Mother India

As a child, one day he found his mother picking up a discarded flag from the roadside with great care. When he inquired, she beautifully explained to him the significance of the national flag. She described the flag as the ‘saree’ worn by Mother India and advised him to pick up the flag if he ever finds it lying carelessly on the street.

Later in his youth, he was deeply inspired by the Indian Army’s devotion towards the national flag. He felt that if our soldiers can make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives to preserve the respect of our flag, then why the common citizens cannot do even the slightest bit of that.

He Now Has A Team Of Volunteers

Throughout his growing years, Priyaranjan has always collected flags, whenever he found one lying in dust and dirt. Exasperated by the apathy of the citizens, he has taken up the onus to keep the streets and dumpsters of Bali free from the disrespectfully discarded flags. He maintains a huge trunk at his house where he keeps all the flags he has collected till date.

He started alone but now he has gained a dedicated team of volunteers who assist him in his flag collection drives on the days following January 26 or August 15 every year. They do not mind picking up flags stained with pan spit or shoe prints.

Do Not Disrespect The Flag 

Priyaranjan’s true nationalism and immaculate ideologies prevent him from aligning with any political party. He also despises religious discrimination in the name of ultra-nationalism. In an appeal to the masses, he keenly insists everyone to immediately stop disrespecting the national flag in the pretext of celebrating our independence.