Rajan Garud, 29
Zilla parishad teacher, Palghar

Rajan Garud had a peculiar problem when he took on a job as zilla parishad schoolteacher at Aamchi Shala in Khoricha Pada of Pargaon village. He had to find a way to convince the students of this tribal settlement in Palghar district to return to class the next day. He knew that most of them had little clue what the Marathi textbooks carried, and were losing interest in school.