New Delhi, Jan. 11: He isn't the CEO of the world's largest software firm, doesn't own East Africa's biggest conglomerate and isn't the President of a nation. But Ashraf Palarakunnummal has received India's highest honour to its diaspora for a feat none of his co-winners can claim.

Ashraf has re-united over 2,000 families in India with bodies of their loved ones who died over the past 13 years in the United Arab Emirates, where the 43-year-old from Kozhikode repairs and paints cars in his modest garage.

"You could say it's my calling, it gives me purpose," Ashraf said, speaking over the telephone from Gandhinagar hours before he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Friday evening. "I feel like I've done something bigger than I could ever have by just tinkering with cars."

Ashraf was among 15 winners of the Samman, awarded each year by the Indian government to high-achieving personalities from the Indian diaspora at the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, celebrated this time in Gujarat's capital.

The award to Ashraf represents recognition for an entrepreneurial story of a different kind - of the millions of Indians, many from Kerala, who leave a home that offers few opportunities and head to the Gulf.

For Ashraf, the journey to helping Indians began in 2001, two years after he landed in Dubai on his second attempt at building a life in the region. He had earlier worked in Saudi Arabia, but had lost that job.

Visiting a hospital in Dubai to see a friend there, Ashraf saw another patient - an Indian - lying dead next to his friend, his wife and children crying helplessly.

"There are complicated rules in the UAE for repatriating bodies of foreign nationals, and most Indians struggle to handle these," Ashraf said. "That day, I realised I could help someone when they needed it the most."

Over the past 13 years, stories of Ashraf's help have thrust his telephone number onto the speed dial of most Indian community leaders. When Indians lose a family member in the UAE, they contact either the Indian mission there or an Indian community organisation.

They in turn contact Ashraf.

"If the dead person has any family member in the UAE, I walk them through the process, going with them when needed," he said. "If they have no one here, I work on their behalf with our embassy and the UAE government, getting all their paperwork through."

In 2007, Ashraf had saved enough money to start his own garage in Ajman, but continued with his cape-less crusade each time his phone rang with requests for help.

"Quite frankly, we would not have managed to repatriate anywhere close to the number of bodies we have, if Ashraf had not helped," a diplomat at India's UAE embassy said. "He deserves the award more than anyone I can think of."

In awarding Ashraf, India has also silently acknowledged what has long been one of the most vexing challenges the country's foreign office has grappled with: repatriating bodies from the Gulf.

Most Gulf countries require visas not just to enter but to exit their territory. Obtaining an exit permit for a body involves navigating a web of bureaucracy that can take weeks and at times months, inviting impatient criticism of the Indian government by relatives.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, in one of her early acts in charge of the country's diaspora policy, had ordered her officials to build an online system where relatives of Indians who have died overseas can track progress of the repatriation of bodies.

"This is one of the biggest problems our people face -when their loved ones die abroad and they want to get the bodies back," Sushma had said when the system was launched in August. "We keep receiving complaints, and we understand their frustration, but often we are unable to tell them anything else but to stay patient."

When Ashraf received a telephone call a few days ago from India's ambassador in Abu Dhabi, T.P. Seetharam, informing him of the award, he was excited but only partly because of the honour.

Ashraf flew to Gandhinagar with his wife and three children, hoping for a chance meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He didn't want the selfie that many members of the Indian diaspora scrambled to click with the Prime Minister in New York and Sydney - instead, he had a litany of continuing complaints that he wanted Modi to hear.

On Thursday evening, he got a chance, when the Prime Minister met the Samman winners.

Many countries transport bodies of their nationals back home for free, Ashraf told Modi. "Why can't India?" Ashraf said he asked the Prime Minister. Air India, the country's national carrier, also charges more than most other airlines to transport back bodies, Ashraf complained to Modi.

Modi, Ashraf said, told him he would discuss the suggestions with his colleagues.

"For me, getting a chance to share these concerns was the best part," Ashraf said. "It's nice to be recognised, but there are so many problems that remain, that hurt our people when they lose someone overseas. I wanted those to be recognised more."

His fellow winners of the Samman are better known, and include a galaxy of successful entrepreneurs, political leaders, scientists, doctors, judges and educationists.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella heads a company whose revenue of $87 billion last year is more than 20 times the size of the economy of the entire emirate of Ajman, where Ashraf lives.

British businessman Nathuram Puri, Omani entrepreneur Rajmal Parakh, Dubai trader Bharatkumar Shah and East African corporate giant Mahendra Mehta - whose family built its empire in Uganda, lost it during Idi Amin's reign and then regained it -are among the awardees.

Guyana's President Donald Ramotar, British peer Raj Loomba, New Zealand's Kanwaljit Bakshi and veteran South African anti-apartheid leader Essop Goolam are the politicians who accepted the award from Ansari.

Nasa scientist Kamlesh Lulla, Mexican food scientist Sanjay Rajaram, American doctor Nandini Tandon, Sydney-based educationist Mala Mehta and Seychelles jurist Duraikannu Karunakaran were the others honoured on Friday.

Indian emigration to West Asia, like any entrepreneurial story, has been dotted by challenges and tragedies - frequent wars, feudal local laws and exploitative working conditions. But the Indian population in the Gulf - over 7 million - continues to grow, with many refusing to leave even in the middle of civil wars, insisting to Indian diplomats that they have little to return to.

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