"Look at this age- it’s the age of medicine- people, plants everything subsists on ‘dawai’ – it is an age of duplicity – it looks good from outside, empty from inside. "

Piplantri villagers in Rajasthan encourage empowerment of women and environment conservation, along with increasing employment opportunities.

A small village called Pachgaon, in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra has done commendable work on forest management and livelihood generation.

"Farmers need spend only a little on input costs and can get good returns on their investment if they grew traditional varieties of paddy"

The Farmer Facilitation Centre provides scientific information on crop management, etc. and a venue for marketing produce directly at prices that farmers decide upon.

Farmers across the country brought their stories to the forum, along with their seeds, getting to know traditional agricultural practices of other states.

They set up a small library for children in Keeranur, a village near Dharapuram and organised storytelling and art and craft workshops for them.

After a few months, I can hand over the responsibility of the space to the locals who take ownership of everything, including the financials.

Maker spaces are drawing everyone from artists creating movie props to hobbyists making furniture and youngsters building drones and robots.