Mumbai

Every day, an electrician climbs 236 stairs inside Mumbai’s 146-year-old Rajabai Clock Tower to wind it by hand. In a city powered by speed and screens, he remains the human force that keeps time alive — without electricity or machines.

After working as a script supervisor in Bollywood, Sneha Rajguru joined her father to build BaapBeti Farms near Pune. They grow organic vegetables, offer a farmstay experience, practice permaculture and sustain livelihoods while celebrating nature.

In Mumbai, The Goodfellows startup pairs young volunteers or ‘goodfellows’ with seniors, lovingly called ‘grandpals’, to offer companionship and support.

Ashok Rathod founded the Oscar Foundation in Mumbai to keep children away from addiction, dropouts, and child marriage. With its ‘No School, No Football’ rule, the foundation blends education and sport, empowering thousands of children to dream, learn, and lead.

The Pali Hill Residents’s Association began with eight women in the 90s who dreamt of transforming their neighbourhood into a cleaner, greener, and safer home. The members recall how they achieved this award-winning transformation over two decades.

Tired of city life, a couple moved from Mumbai to a quiet hill in Mahabaleshwar. On abandoned land, they began again — growing food, building a zero-waste farm, and learning to live simply. Today, their journey inspires others to slow down, reconnect with nature, and find joy in doing things differently.

After working in the corporate world, Vikrant Kale turned to his farming roots in Maharashtra. Interestingly, he transformed apple farming by cultivating up to 16,000 kg of apples annually in Maharashtra’s scorching 44°C heat.

In a city where every inch of land is built upon, Godrej Enterprises Group chose to protect a forest instead. For over four decades, they’ve nurtured acres of mangroves in Mumbai, protecting biodiversity, preventing floods, and building a climate-resilient future for generations to come.

Inspired by a neighbourhood kabadiwaala, Henik Gala and Shreyas Jalapur built ScrapJi — a tech-enabled scrap collection startup that now recycles over 10,000 kg of waste every month in Thane. Their mission? A trash-free India by 2030.

From vada pav in Mumbai to Warli art in Palghar, here’s what 10 districts in Maharashtra are best known for (hint: it’s not monuments).