Satyanarayan Mundayoor is widely known, not only across the nooks and corners of Arunachal Pradesh but also across the whole nation for three different reasons. First as the beloved “Uncle Moosa” of Arunachal Pradesh, secondly, as the “Keralite who devoted his life in spreading the joy of reading in Arunachal Pradesh” and thirdly as the “renowned educationist who was conferred with the prestigious award of Padma Shri 2020”. Before we unfold these details, here is a glance into the life of Satyanarayan Mundayoor, prior to crossing the milestones he is well reputed for now. 

Born in Arangodukara Mundayoor Mana in Thrissur district of Kerala, he left his job as a Revenue Officer in the income tax department of Mumbai in 1979 and came to Lohit in Arunachal Pradesh. It was during that time that he started his incredible journey as a social worker, and his task was to promote education and reading culture in the state. Working as an education teacher till 1996 in Vivekananda Kendriya Vidyalaya, he conducted many book exhibitions in the region to achieve the target he had set for. One of the widely known achievements of Uncle Moosa is the Community Library he founded at Etalin of Dibang Valley which happens to be the first of its kind in the place aforementioned. With the successful establishment of the community library, just within two years, it split and developed into a vaster network in the district. 

Known as the beloved Uncle Moosa by the entire state, he didn’t just stop at this. As a part of the Lohit Youth Library Movement in 2007, he started his first Bamboosa Library in the government town of Tezu. This was a big initiative taken up by him in collaboration with the Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children (AWIC) and the Vivekananda Trust. This was gradually followed by the thirteen Bamboosa libraries that opened up at Wakro, Lathao, Anjaw, and Chongkham under his able leadership. Each of these libraries houses around 10,000 books with a range of various interesting formats, including novels and comics. 

“Do good for others. It will come back in unexpected ways.” – Anonymous

Uncle Moosa’s sincere endeavours to foster the reading culture in Arunachal Pradesh didn’t go unnoticed. For his relentless services offered, he was bestowed with the Arunachal Governor’s Silver Medal for meritorious services to the youth. In 2012, he was among the featured amazing personalities in the ‘Amazing Indians’ series on the Times Now TV. In addition to that, he was included in the ‘Civil Society Hall of Fame’ in 2016. And this was just a beginning to all the achievements he started receiving thereafter. In 2020, Uncle Moosa was conferred the prestigious award of Padma Shri, which counts as the 4th highest civilian award in India. Recently in 2022, he was honoured with the Dakshina-Ravunni Menon Award. The prestigious award is given to those individuals and organisations that have worked diligently for service to the community. The award conferred came with a cash prize of ₹50,001, a citation, and a sculpture. However, Uncle Moosa did something interesting shortly after - while thanking the Arunachal Pradesh unit of the All India Malayalee Association and the Kerala Kala Samskarika Vedi for recommending his name for the award, he dedicated the award money received for further promotion of education and reading activities in Arunachal Pradesh. Inspiring indeed!

Satyanarayan Mundayoor is just one of the many diligent individuals that are working days and nights in uplifting the status of Arunachal Pradesh. But what makes him our beloved Uncle Moosa is his unparalleled love for children. He happens to be the person responsible for the Home Library movement in the state. It is an initiative under which sincere volunteers are entrusted with children's books to be delivered to countless homes in Arunachal. His immense love for children can also be seen in his children’s book that he wrote in Malayalam on the folk heritage of Arunachal Pradesh. No wonder when he was conferred the Padma Shri award, social media platforms went crazy with comments like, “Hey, that’s our Uncle Moosa!” And now you know the reason why he is loved by so many people all over.