Maharashtra

Kiran Bavadekar from Kolhapur contracted polio at 3 but still went on to pursue wrestling and bodybuilding professionally. Today, he is a fitness trainer, where 300 of his students have joined the Indian Army or police force.

Aamir Khan, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, and other eminent names in Bollywood saw Malegaon Ka Superman, which catapulted the success of Mollywood, the film industry of the small town of Malegaon, Maharashtra.

M I Siddiqui from Muzaffarnagar, Bihar, went to Mumbai and started Cosmus, a bag manufacturing company. Today, the company sells products like duffel bags, school bags, and laptop bags that are about 30 per cent cheaper than many in the market

Sudhir Wagamare spent almost two decades perfecting his expertise in innovating high-end paediatric and neonatal ventilators. It was during his B.Com course that Sudhir realised his potential to become an innovator, breaking the myth that only professional engineers could work on tech-based innovations. He is now being supported by the Marico Innovation Foundation to take his work forward.

Maharashtra-based Mohammed Dilawar, a sparrow conservation activist, and his team have restored 400 species of native plants, which they have planted across 20,000 acres. The beauty of these plants is that all of them are indigenous alternatives to non-native ones, helping keep the ecological balance in check.

Savita Labhade from Nashik only found out about the debt her husband was under a year after he died. For six years since then, she worked hard to find different ways to earn a living and finance her children’s education, by starting a spice business, and opening Sadhana General Store

In the 80s, Pune-based Jayant Barve’s business of manufacturing and selling chemical fertilisers was thriving. Today, he has switched to producing organic manure through his venture, Nature Care Fertilizer, which is also in demand in Kenya and Namibia

Popatrao Funde and his wife, Anuradha, are teachers at two Zila Parishad schools in Maharashtra. But that hasn't stopped them from reaching out to the needy.

At Pune’s La Kheer Deli, Shivang and Shivika Sood combine their mother Sonia’s traditional recipe of kheer with a pudding like consistency, and offer a variety of flavours such as nutella, brownie, chocolate, oreo, and gulkand

Inspired by William Laurie Baker, Maharashtra-based ABHA Architecture, by Praveen and Vidya, uses eco-conscious material palettes and passive cooling strategies to build cost-effective, durable and disaster-resistant homes.