, Feb. 7 -- Anke Gowda, a retired sugar factory worker from southern India, has spent five decades assembling what may be one of the country's most remarkable private libraries, a collection of around two million books that anyone can freely read or borrow.

The 79-year-old from Karnataka's Mandya district was honoured last month with the Padma Shri, one of India's top civilian awards, recognising his lifelong commitment to literacy and learning, reports BBC.

Gowda grew up in a farming family where books were rare, but his curiosity pushed him to seek them out from an early age. As a child, he balanced school with farm work and saved whatever money he could to buy books, often choosing them over food. Stories about Indian freedom fighter...