After hunting down a rare bird, Kohima’s Rüvuotuo Belho (64) had a wake-up call and decided to dedicate his life to saving the wildlife from being hunted down. He goes to the forest near his home and rescues injured birds and animals.

Rüvuotuo Belho

Belho tends to them till they are well and then sets them free. Today, his home has become a ‘mini zoo’ and a breeding ground. It is a safe haven for over 60 species of animals and birds.

After serving years as deputy chief labour commissioner in the East India division, Pradeep (66) wanted to dedicate the rest of his time to saving the environment. So he started an NGO called ‘Paribesh Suraksha Abhijan’.

Pradeep Kumar Rath

‘Paribesh Suraksha Abhijan’. Through the NGO, he has planted more than 60,000 trees in rural parts of Odisha. He has incubated nearly 40,000 women and children from rural backgrounds who sow and preserve the trees.

Having dedicated over three decades of his life to serving in the Indian Air Force, AC Barua (80) was ready for his retired life. However, his perspective changed drastically in 2007 when Assam was struck by a devastating flood.

AC Barua

During one of his rescue efforts, he came across an abandoned woman stuck in her house with her disabled son. He rescued them, but when he came back to arrange for her shelter, she was gone. On that day, Barua decided to establish a sanctuary for abandoned women.

In 2011, he started an organisation called ‘Seneh’ and has provided assistance to 60 abandoned women so far. He gives them lifelong shelter, food, and medical assistance.

For Kanchan Bhadani (60), her entrepreneurial journey started when both her kids were settled in life. Having learnt the art of crochet at a young age, she decided to start an art business called LoopHoop in 2021.

Kanchan Bhadani

She trains and employs girls and homemakers from the Jhumri Telaiya tribal community in Jharkhand to help them earn a livelihood. So far, they have sold over 3,000 hand-crocheted toys.

Madhukanta Bhatt (93) wakes up at precisely 7:30 am every day and gets her daily chores done. Then she sits down with her sewing machine to stitch cloth bags from discarded clothes.

Madhukanta Bhatt

She has been doing this for the past decade to reduce the use of plastic bags and do her part in saving the environment. She distributes these bags to people across Hyderabad for free.

So far, she has made over 35,000 cloth bags from waste material that would have otherwise ended up in landfills.