FROM SHADOWS TO STARS: The Rise of the Ordinary

  Arun Krishnamurthy’s story begins in Chennai, where his love for the environment was shaped by the city’s fading lakes and disappearing green spaces. After completing his education at the University of Madras, he started his career at Google. Although the job brought prestige and stability, Arun felt a deep void. He longed to do something meaningful for the environment that had nurtured him. In 2011, he made a choice that changed his life. He left his corporate career and founded the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI), a non-profit organisation devoted to ecological conservation and lake restoration. What started as a small local effort soon evolved into a national movement. With the help of students, volunteers, and citizens, EFI began reviving neglected lakes and ponds across India. Each project became a symbol of collective responsibility and environmental hope. Under his guidance, the foundation worked with scientific accuracy and community involvement. The process ...

  Usha Chaumar’s life is one of extraordinary courage. Born in 1978 in Alwar, Rajasthan, she was forced into manual scavenging when she was only seven years old. Each morning began before sunrise, with a basket and a burden that no child should ever bear. For years, she endured discrimination, humiliation, and the weight of a system that treated her as invisible. Yet, in her heart, she carried a quiet strength that refused to be crushed by circumstance. Her turning point came when she met social reformer Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of Sulabh International. He offered her an opportunity to leave behind the world of manual scavenging and start a new chapter. With Sulabh’s support, Usha and many other women received training in vocational skills such as beauty therapy, tailoring, and handicrafts. Slowly, she began to rebuild her identity, not as a scavenger but as a leader. Today, Usha Chaumar is the President of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation . She travels ac...

In the small desert village of Barmer, Rajasthan, Ruma Devi’s story begins with hardship and unfolds with quiet courage. Born in 1988 into a humble family, she lost her mother at a young age and was forced to leave school after class eight due to poverty. With limited means but boundless spirit, she found expression in the age-old craft of Rajasthani embroidery. A needle and thread became her instruments of resilience. In 2008, she gathered a handful of women from her village and began stitching simple handbags. Their first earnings were modest, but it was enough to ignite belief. Supported by the NGO Gramin Vikas Evam Chetna Sansthan, Ruma expanded her efforts, training rural women in traditional embroidery and design. Over the years, her small group grew into a collective of over 30,000 women across 300 villages in Rajasthan. Her work travelled far beyond the sands of Barmer, reaching fashion runways in Germany, London, and Singapore. Each piece of fabric carried the story of heritag...

  Sindhutai Sapkal’s life is a story of pain that bloomed into purpose. Born in 1948 in Wardha, Maharashtra, to a poor cattle-herding family, she faced hardship from her earliest years. Denied education beyond class four and married at just ten, she was thrust into a life of poverty and abuse. When she was abandoned by her husband while nine months pregnant, she gave birth to her daughter alone in a cow shelter. For many, that would have been the end of hope. For Sindhutai, it was the beginning of something extraordinary. With no home and no support, she began singing and begging at railway stations to survive. But as she wandered, she saw countless orphaned children who had no one to care for them. She decided that if life had denied her love, she would become a mother to those who needed it most. She adopted one child, then another, and slowly, her family began to grow. Over the years, Sindhutai became the mother of more than 1,400 orphaned and abandoned children across Maharas...

Anand Kumar’s story is a symphony of struggle, intellect, and purpose. Born in 1973 in Patna, Bihar, he grew up in a modest home where his father, a postal clerk, taught him the value of education. From an early age, Anand showed a natural aptitude for mathematics, publishing papers in reputed journals while still in school. His brilliance earned him admission to Cambridge University, but poverty drew a cruel boundary. His father’s death and the lack of funds forced him to stay back in India. Undeterred, Anand began teaching mathematics in a small classroom to support his family. What began as a necessity soon transformed into a mission. In 2002, he founded Super 30 , a free coaching program for thirty underprivileged students preparing for the IIT-JEE. He not only taught them advanced mathematics but also provided food and lodging, ensuring that no student had to abandon their dreams for want of money. Over the years, hundreds of his students have entered India’s most prestigious inst...

  Tulsi Gowda’s story is a quiet anthem of devotion to nature. Born in a tribal family in Honnali village, Karnataka, she never received formal education. Yet, her understanding of the forest is deeper than any textbook could teach. From the age of twelve, Tulsi began working at a nursery run by the Karnataka Forest Department, planting and tending to saplings with a patience that only love can nurture. Over the decades, she has planted more than 30,000 trees and helped restore thousands of hectares of degraded forest land. Her hands have shaped entire ecosystems, turning barren stretches of soil into living, breathing green belts. What makes her work extraordinary is not just the scale, but the sincerity behind it. She has often walked barefoot through forests, identifying native plants and seeds by touch and scent, earning her the affectionate title of “Encyclopaedia of the Forest.” In recognition of her lifelong service, Tulsi Gowda was awarded the Padma Shri in 2020. On the d...