Rastrapathi bhavan museum Photos

PV Raji Ashok

PV Raji Ashok 

A BA graduate, Raji's been driving an Uber auto rickshaw since 2014, a month after the company was launched in Chennai. "I started driving auto rickshaws because that was the only means I could find to survive. I used to drive a rickshaw at an auto stand previously, but I had to pay a hefty amount to the association. My husband is a rickshaw driver too. Before Uber, I worked with another ride provider, which did not work out quite well for me," she says. Raji admits that she was initially quite scared about going to areas like North Chennai. "But that's an old story," she says. "I've slowly gotten to understand how safe my city is for everyone.

Raji is originally from Palakkad, Kerala and she fell in love with Ashok, an auto-driver from the village, whom she married later. Although she didn’t go into the details of the struggles the couple initially faced but shortly after getting married, the two decided to shift to Coimbatore. Here, while Ashok drove an auto, Raji worked as an accountant at a travel agency.

However, the couple shifted base to Chennai after the 1998 bomb blasts in Coimbatore that took nearly 60 lives.“The horrific blasts had affected hundreds of people, and we were two of them. We had no option but to restart our lives and so we came to Chennai. My brother worked here in the railways, so we had a strong base to restart our lives on. This change of city brought with it its share of challenges. For one, I could not find a job despite my qualification and experience. After several failed interviews, I decided to start driving an auto for a living just like my husband,”

“Over the past few years, I have given motivational talks in over 13 colleges in Chennai. I also give free auto driving lessons to women interested in joining this profession. This is a great occupation for women, and I want to encourage more ladies to drive autos professionally,”

"I believes that whatever job one does, they must be completely satisfied with it."

Shenaz Haveliwala

Shenaz Haveliwala

Shenaz was 19 years old when she had her first seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy.But that didn’t hold her back. Within a year of her first seizure, Shenaz turned entrepreneur with Sobo Connect, which aims at encouraging entrepreneurs and providing them with working space. She was pursuing mechanical engineering in Mumbai then.

Throughout her journey with epilepsy, Shenaz met people from different cultures, age groups, and financial backgrounds, each with a story to tell. She realized that everyone had his or her own unique problems and epilepsy just happened to be hers.

Two years later she took the very brave step to undergo temporal lobe surgery. During recuperation, Shenaz met patients from different cultures, age groups and financial backgrounds, each with a story to tell. She realized that everyone had their own problem; epilepsy just happened to be hers. This was the catalyst that was to lead to an incredible amount of volunteering work.In 2009, Shenaz collected funds through social networking websites, which she donated to the hospital where her surgery had taken place. The fund helps cover treatment costs of patients with epilepsy who otherwise would not be able to afford it.

In 2010, she started volunteering at the Indian Epilepsy Association. She educates people in Mumbai on epilepsy and campaigns against the stigma attached to the disease. She also teaches members English, basic math and logic. She also interacts with Indian media to highlight the true facts about epilepsy – an invisible disease – and speaks about her life with epilepsy at seminars.

She continues to have seizures and struggles to overcome the side effects of her current medication, but she is happy.  She has learned to visualize the world her way. The following year, despite uncontrolled seizures, she turned entrepreneur.Currently, along with her Masters degree, she is creating a documentary on epilepsy first aid, which can be broadcast in cinemas before the start of the movie and has just begun volunteering with ADAPT (formerly the  Spastics Society of India), as an assistant special educator.In 2013, IBE awarded her as an ‘outstanding person with epilepsy.’Epilepsy has changed me as a person, she says, it has taught me more than any university possibly could.

"I had to stop wondering about the 'whys' in my life and instead focus on the 'hows'"

Pradeep Singh

Pradeep Singh

A 22-year-old Pradeep Singh is the son of a petrol pump worker who overcame a lot of hardship and limited resources and cracked the IAS exam. Pradeep who hails from Indore was one of the youngest candidates to appear in UPSC 2018 exams and crack it. His father Manoj Singh originally from the town of Gopalganj in Bihar. Manoj Singh worked as a petrol pump worker and his mother is a housewife.

Pradeep born in 1996 studied in a CBSE school in Indore and then completed his graduation in B.Com (Hons) from IIPS DAVV. Since a very young age, Pradeep was confident that he wanted to be in administrative service. While speaking to The Better India, Pradeep said, “Growing up, I didn’t know what UPSC or an IAS officer was. But my parents often spoke with delight about the success stories of aspirants who had cracked the exams to become ‘afsars’ (officers). I would look on in awe at the joy on their faces as they tried to fathom how proud the parents of these achievers would have felt to see their children crack one of the toughest exams in the country and serve the nation.”

He started his UPSC Civil Services preparation and moved to Delhi. To afford his coaching and accommodation, his father had to sell their home and move into rented accommodation. Determined to make the most of his father's sacrifices and efforts, he focussed on cracking the civil services examination. Hard work paid off and he cracked the examination in 2018 and was offered a position in the Indian Revenue Services.

Determined still, he did not give up and continued to strive for a better rank. In the recently released UPSC CIvil Services 2019 results, Pradeep shined again, finding a spot at the AIR 26 rank. Pradeep preparation strategy involved getting up early, take a shower, eat, and then sit for study. He studied for the whole day and his distractions were rare. He believed that coaching alone cannot help you crack the exam. 

Coaching will contribute about 8-10 percent to the results. But 90 percent depends on your hard work is what he followed to qualify the exam. Presently he is working as an IRS officer.Pradeep Singh is one the IAS Toppers who through his hard work and dedication topped the exam. Know his journey of cracking the exam amid lot of hardship and limited resources.

"What seems impossible is only possible when dedication, hard work, and determination is built together"

Dhritiman Bohra

Dhritiman Bohra

It took 17 Years for Diritiman Borah to come up with a product that would make him stand out from the crowd.About 20 years ago,it took a lot of courage for him to tell him academician parents that he wouldnot pursue school beyond class 10 instead ,he started a business making bamboo furniture and kitchen and agricultural implements.

In 2001, Dhritiman just after school started selling Bamboo furniture for a factory. After a while, he thought “Can I do something with Bamboo to replace plastic ? This is when he started his Bamboo mugs/glasses and slowly the idea of water Bottle struck which was just a year and a half ago in 2018. Bamboo Bottle? What a super idea was the people’s response to his innovation. Now he has plunged into manufacturing full time.

Under the umbrella of DB Industries, Dhritiman Borah personally supervises the complete process from start to finish for quality purposes. It takes at least 4-5 hours in making one bottle that involves cutting, boiling, drying, smoking, joining and finishing. He claims that each bottle is 60% hand-made. It's just the beginning and his vision is to replace the plastic industry with Bamboo, Wood, and Jute that is eco-friendly.

Each Bamboo Bottle comes with a unique design because Bamboo itself comes in different shapes and sizes. Design your own bottle concept for corporates with logos etc., is also available with DB Industries.ach bottle takes about five hours to make — from sizing the bamboo, boiling, smoking and drying to make it more tenacious and durable, then joining the parts and the final touches. Boiling purifies and strengthens the wall around the hollow of the culm, and this helps the bottle long.

“Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done.”

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi goyal was born on 21 september 1985 is an indian disability and gender rights activist who has been appointed to the un women executive director advisory group.goyal is the founder and director of mumbai based ngo rising flame and works in the areas of sexuality, gender, health and rights for women and girls with disabilities.She is also the first blind female stand-up comedian in India.

From the age of four, Nidhi Goyal loved to paint, and by the time she was a teenager, she knew she wanted to be a portrait artist. When Nidhi was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disorder, at age 15, the loss of this dream was the biggest blow.

“I’m not sure, looking back now, that I would have had the temperament the patience for it,” Nidhi tells us over a lime soda at a beachfront coffee shop in Malad. Articulate, chatty, and quick to laugh, this through-and-through Bombay girl eventually found a different creative outlet to suit her personality. A few years ago, she turned to stand-up comedy, both as a form of self-expression and as a way to extend the advocacy work she was already doing for disability and gender rights.

“After the first couple of years, when I acquired my disability, I think everything else became laughable,” Nidhi says. With two visually impaired children and one sighted one, the Nidhi family developed its own brand of humour, which treated prejudice not disability as something to be pitied or mocked. “To do comedy,” “you need to be strong enough to point to that elephant in the room, which everyone is pretending is not there. And that’s something I’ve done since childhood.”

Sangeetha

Sangeetha

She was a class 9 drop out can proudly say that she has come a long way to achieve her dream in real life. Sangeetha faced so many difficulties in her life. Her alcoholic father abandoned the family when she was a kid.

She grew up seeing her mother and sister working constantly to back the five-member family. Following an eye operation, her mother was left jobless and her sister was only one to support the family. Breaking all the shackles, she steered the Indian football team at the Street Child Football World Cup held in Moscow, Russia, in May 2016.

Sangeetha captained the Indian team in the third edition of the World Cup, which saw the participation of children from 24 other countries.“I dropped out of school in the 9th standard, when I was 13 years old, to help my family. My dad suffered from alcohol addiction and left us long ago. My mum and sister were working to support the family. But we weren’t able to make ends meet.

So I joined a steel vessel manufacturing firm across the street, where we had to melt old vessels, make new ones from the alloy and polish them. The job came with a high risk of Tuberculosis,” she was quoted as saying by the News Minute.

Sangeetha wasn’t someone who delved into disappointment when people said football isn’t meant for girls. But she was one who defied all the odds just like how Lionel Messi dribbles past the players with relative ease. This goes to show that how much passion she has for the game and she didn’t bat an eye what others told about her.

In an interview with dtnext, this bright prospect narrated her life on the street, how football has changed her completely. “People from my street look at me with a lot of admiration. To be honest, I am enjoying this phase of my life. I am glad that they’ve recognised my talent, finally,” she added.

It took Sangeetha’s coach just a few months to understand that she was a natural talent.In her very first tournament, the 'Slum Soccer Gamesa' organised in Besant Nagar, she brought laurels to her team. At that time, she represented Karunalaya’s girls team. The team won the tournament and Sangeetha brought home the Best Player award.

From here, there was no looking back.In 2016, she was the only player from Tamil Nadu to be selected as part of the squad representing India in the Homeless World Cup held in Glasgow, Scotland.

"They told us only a few months before the tournament and I was besides myself with joy. It was the first time I went outside Chennai, my first time in a flight and my first ever trip abroad," smiles Sangeetha.

Following this, she was selected to represent India in the 2018 Street Child World Cup in Moscow, this time as captain - an achievement that made her the pride of her street.

"We won against Mexico and I scored one goal in our game. We gave it all we got," she says.Sangeetha's strength is her level of fitness, says her mentor and street co-ordinator Vasanth, who works for Karunalya.

"I didn't have a birth certificate or an address proof to show. We only had a Voter's ID. So it was difficult to get a passport as they said that I need to show them a permanent address to get one. We don't have a permanent address. This street is my address. This is when Karunalaya director's intervened and helped me get my passport and visa for Scotland," Sangeetha says.