Lekshmi Priya S

Beginning as a self-driven initiative in 2012, Devender Sura's green crusade has reached out to over 152 village panchayats, and today, has a network of approximately 2,000 dedicated and passionate volunteers across Haryana.

43-year-old Syed Nasser Hussain was heading home after closing his plumbing material store, when he saw a ‘well-dressed’ young girl preparing to jump into the creek from the Vashi bridge.

Suganya Selvaraj flagged off Grandma's Goodies last year in October, after being encouraged by the stupendous response that her podis received at a carnival organised in her niece’s school.

Devrai Art Village was established by Suresh Pungati, a noted Adivasi artisan, and renowned documentary filmmaker, Mandakini Mathur after the monsoon of 2008, with the vision of preserving the timeless heritage of Adivasi metal artistry, lest the craft phases out.

Gopakumar VK from Ennakkad in Alappuzha district of Kerala is a remarkable individual, who besides being a high-school Physics teacher, dons many other roles.

With themes ranging from economic and gender inequality to religious intolerance and land acquisition, Surendra Singh Negi’s compositions steer far away from the mainstream and instead, ask questions that are reflective of various societal evils while leaving us unsettled with our apathy and indifference.

Through her works, Meena has emerged as a bold and unapologetic young voice in the country and has stayed true to her identity, carving out space for resistance and dissent.

What stood out in such testing times for Kerala was that those who genuinely wished to ease the trauma of the people who lost their loved ones and homes did not let any of the spiel mentioned above affect their judgement and did what any empathetic individual would do.

Taking over from S Christopher, Reddy will be holding this portfolio for the next two years, while overseeing every activity of the defence organisation.

With the exception of Tamil Nadu, both women are relatively unknown across the country despite their epic warfare tactics and historic win against the British in the eighteenth century.