During the show, Javed Akhtar made a statement that one thing is common between all these people and that is that they did not have the resources and power, still they managed to pull it off. These were just normal people and hence they had to struggle hard and that’s what Javed summarized aptly in this statement of his. Below I try to capture what these people achieved and what the award was for.

Sunita Krishnan Women’s welfare, Hyderabad (South) Taking on trafficking mafia Heads an anti-trafficking group, rescuing women from brothels. Institutionalized an anti-trafficking cell within police stations. Also runs a school for 5000 children of sex workers.	Swapan Mukherjee Social Work, West Bengal (East) WB activist turns destitute kids into filmmakers Swapan Mukhopadhay runs a home for destitute children. The home has about 40 kids. Apart from taking care of their basic needs, he even teaches them filmmaking.
Nishtha Desai Social Work, Goa. (West) Woman takes on fight against paedophiles in Goa CRG, an NGO in Goa, works to save children from becoming victims of paedophilia. The NGO works with shack and shop owners in Goa, sensitising both kids and their employers	Dharanidhar Boro Wildlife conservation, Kaziranga, Assam Forest Ranger doubles Kaziranga rhino numbers Boro and the forest guard in Kaziranga go beyond the call of duty to save the one-horned rhino. Surviving on a meagre pay, the duo have been fighting poachers to save the wild habitat.
K P Thomas Sports, Kottayam (South) The ‘Master’ behind Anju Bobby George’s jump start Master, 61, has been the mentor to many of Kerala’s star athletes like Anju Bobby George and Shiny Wilson. He also pays for the boarding and lodging of underprivileged souls. MC Marykom Sports, Manipur (East) Boxing champ dreams big A champion boxer of international acclaim, Marykom remains largely unknown in India. But that has not stopped her from starting a training school for aspiring boxers in Manipur on her own.	Rajpal Singh Sports, Haryana (North) International shooter helps villagers aim for Olympics He has been mentoring international shooters from Johadi – a small village in UP – for over a decade now. He has produced more than 20 international award-winning shooters. Bhagwan Nagargoje Sports, Sangroli, Maharashtra (West) Coach who put orphans on the right track An ex-Army man, he trains village kids to become national-level marathon runners. The training facilities are spartan, but his regimen and the drive of the children are producing winners.
N Krishnan Social Work, Madurai (South) Food for thought: Quitting 5-star job to feed homeless This ex-chef now provides 3 free meals daily to 200 destitutes and homeless people in Madurai. He survives on donations, and makes sure they get the same food that he and his family eat.	Sharad Sharma Communication, New Delhi (North) Comic Relief: Animated about change With World Comics India, Sharad has pioneered an easy medium for the poor to communicate on issues neglected by the media. His initiative has given voice to hundreds of people in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Haneef Lakdawala Communal Harmony, Ahmedabad (West) Haneef hits communal divide for a six in Naroda Patia From cricket to healthcare, this social worker makes people of different communities come together. In a post riot-torn Ahmedabad, this is difficult work, but Haneefbhai has persevered.	Reny George Education, Bangalore (South) Ex-convict now runs home for prisoners’ kids Having gone though the stigma of incarceration, he wanted to make sure children of other prisoners did not suffer.
Abhayanand & Anand Kumar Education, Patna (East) 2 Patna men make poor IIT students’ dream a reality Super 30, a coaching centre set up by Abhay Anand and Anand Kumar, trains poor kids for the IIT-JEE. This year, 28 of them made it to the JEE!	Armene Modi Education, Shirur, Maharashtra. (West) Gift of a bike ups literacy levels in Maharashtra village Armene Modi set up a foundation that provides bicycles to girls in a village where the school is a distance away. This has resulted in more than 450 girls getting an education.
Sonam Wangchuk Education, Ladakh (North) Meet Ladakh’s man of hope By introducing educational reforms in government-run schools, Sonam Wangchuk is encouraging communities to reinforce the cultural identity of minority ethnic groups that live along the northern border of India.	D Ashish Public Service, Kolkata (East) Kolkata man has a pill for City of Joy’s ailments Ashish set up a medicine bank for the city’s poor. Dedicated volunteers collect spare medicines from homes and dispense them to the poor and needy who cannot afford them.
Dr Subroto Das Public Safety, Ahmedabad. (West) ‘SOS angel’ for road accident victims After surviving a car crash, Dr. Subroto Das set up an NGO that works with existing resources to optimise medical response to road accident victims on highways. His model is already being adopted in other parts of India.	Ahmed Khan Environment/ Technology, Bangalore (South) Bangalore activist on the road to plastic success story Ahmed Khan figured out a way to use waste plastic in road construction, thereby reducing the ecological impact of plastic and making better roads.
Jai Prakash Dabral Environment, Uttaranchal (North) Man fights timber mafia, saves 90,000 trees He is now working with various organisations to help the govt formulate guidelines for laying down transmission lines in the Himalayan sub-region. He told openly that the timber mafia are people of high contacts and that they manage to buy law, and appealed ministers to open eyes.	Chewang Norphel Water Harvesting, Ladakh (North) ‘Glacier man’ gets water to Ladakh dry lands This retired civil engineer figured out a way to build artificial glaciers in Ladakh. Through this ingenious technique, the water woes of many villages in Ladakh have been eased.
Dr Prabhakar Environment/ Technology, Bangalore (South) Prof returns from US to shape future of poor Keralites He quit the US to start micro-credit in Mohd. Yunus’ Grameen Bank model. Loans are given without collateral to women, with 100% pay back rate.	Dr. Anil Joshi Rural Development, Uttaranchal (North) Prof ‘invents’ wheel to generate hydro-electricity Set up water mills in the hills of Dehradun to generate renewable energy. He has electrified more than 1000 villages in the Himalayan region with simple technology innovation.
Deep Joshi Rural Development, Jharkhand (East) They left the good life to make others’ better Deep Joshi’s NGO, Pradaan, recruits graduates from India’s premiere institutes and gets them to work in rural areas for the under privileged.	Sushma Iyengar Rural Development, Kutch, Gujarat (West) Woman empowers Kutch artists She started the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghtan to improve the lot of women in Kutch. From reproductive rights to elevating women from wage earners to skilled entrepreneurs, she has made a difference to many lives.

India is today cruising at such a strategic juncture that whatever policies we choose, will impact the high speed development we are building upon. If there is an anomaly in the building blocks then what the hell are we constructing on it? Right now we need robust economic policies and a strategic vision keeping in mind the future turnings. With sound financial constructs like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister P Chidambram in driving seat I was sure that India Shining would keep glowing, but the arm twisting by Left and time to time opportunism by BJP has made it rather India Shimmering. Democracy gives one big advantage to scholars – the right to argue each and every thought; but the moment you give it to corrupt or fools, all you get is a chaotic indecision.

There has been a huge hue and cry on 1-2-3 agreement, but then how many knew about it at all? Center has been saying that they are open for discussion, but all the left and BJP has to say is that its a wrong decision. Million dollar question is WHY? If we are not ready to get US deal for our future power needs then there should be a second plan, where is the discussion for this? I really hate it when people say that don’t ask me what is right but what you are doing is wrong! Left is still lost in the old ideas of socialism and firmly believes in shunning anything with capitalism label. We don’t need to discuss what happens when you just close your eyes to the things you don’t like and keep crying out your own song.

India is not free of evils, there are lot of problems and we have a huge repository of knowledge that has been accumulated over ages and is being lost or re-invented. The basic philosophies taught by Vedas and Hinduism need to be learned by young generations in constructive manner and the illiteracy needs to be eradicated. If the VHP and Shiv Sainiks launch a war for these motives we can put many small villages also on the track of development. But no we remain lost in our own small battles of dividing the state for satiating more ministers (Andhra), giving free Power to farmers even as state coffers are bled to bankruptcy (Punjab), selfishly spending tons and tons on own and threating to pull support if judiciary questions wealth (UP), making government a family legacy baton (Center, J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, TN, Karnatka…. the list is a long one!