Aurangabad

Water wheels are lifting the weight off the shoulders of countless women in the drought-prone regions of Maharashtra.

Savita Dakle from Maharashtra was a child bride, a class 10 dropout and a farming novice. But she didn’t let that define her or deter her from training millions of other women as independent organic farmers.

Aurangabad-based Dr Ganesh Kulkarni’s grows a terrace garden with seasonal vegetables, fruits, and flowers through tips from Facebook. He also mentors several newcomers in urban gardening.

Born to specially-abled farm labourers, IRS officer Vishnu Auti from Maharashtra grew up amidst poverty and famine but that did not stop him from cracking UPSC CSE without any coaching.

Inspired by success in a National Robotic Competition, 100 students from ZP school, Gadiwat near Aurangabad are learning Japanese for a future trip to Japan

“We realised early that we want to stick to sustainable architecture and taking into climatic aspects while planning buildings,” says Piyush.

Sustainable home: All wood in their house is upcycled packaging wood used in the automobile industry. And an old foot-operated sewing machine serves as their wash basin stand. You have to see it to believe this marvel.

The roads that were once littered with waste and faced rampant open-defecation are clean, and lined with lush trees. The village is lit with solar lights, boasting of pucca homes painted in uniform colours, a skill development centre, a meditation centre, and even a public library!

Started in 2018, by a group of friends based in Mumbai, the idea of conquering the fear of travelling along the highways is what gave birth to this unique club.

And though the pain of not being able to donate their daughter's organs continues to twist a knife in the hearts of the young couple, they decided to make the day special by funding the open heart surgery of an unprivileged four-year-old child.