“A special invitation for 'loans' went out to SHGs from the Women's Federation of Chandrapur in 2015. Usually provided for small businesses, weddings or for buying a house/vehicle, this was the first time loans were being offered for toilets.

“No one would have dreamt that Harbinder Kumar would one day be working in the Ropar District Court House. But that’s exactly what this 24 year old, mildly intellectually challenged young man is doing - and he is loving it!

"I used to despair about my life. I’m not like everyone else, and what are the chances in life for a disabled guy like me? I soon started drinking and even began selling liquor like everyone else in my village. The only respectable thing I did was shoe polishing, which did not earn me enough money.

“Shamsher was our first child and you won’t believe how I was dancing with joy at his birth. But we could sense something was not right while he was growing up. Finally, my wife and I accepted that Shamsher was different.

“I love working for myself. Every day I open my shop and stand with pride, looking at my sign board and the business I’ve created – It’s hard to believe it’s mine! See, I was a high school dropout – as an only son I felt a huge pressure to help my parents in some way.

“I got polio when I was a child and struggled to walk – forced to walk on my knee which made everyone treat me differently. I felt I was a burden in the family as I couldn’t help my father in our field and wondered how I’d ever get any other opportunity in life with this condition.

‘We are goat people – we’ve always had goats, long as I can remember. My son was volunteering with Ambuja Foundation and learned a lot of new things about the goat business so he could support others in the community. He would come home and tell me all about it, so while I started out with 25 goats, I built up the herd to 50 in just 12months by giving timely vaccination and deworming them.

“Aquaculture has been in my family for generations. My father grew fish, my grandfather grew fish, my great grandfather did the same. Like many other families in this area, we have a large pond right next to our house, but fish were always seen as a ‘side’ thing.

“I’ve got 2 children and my husband is a private driver, but I always wanted to do something for myself. In 2014 I learned how to knit using a machine, making sweaters and scarfs and the like, I invested in my own digital machine and started taking orders. In a month I now earn 15-20,000 – which helps me to fix my house, pay for treatment of my health issues and support my children’s education.

“My chickens make me so happy! Where once I struggled to make ends meet with my husband’s factory job, today I can earn from home and manage all my household chores and responsibilities also – I’ve no need to go outside to earn! I’ve gone from 15 chicks in 2019 to 135 chickens in just 2 years and earn a whopping Rs. 70,000. Wouldn’t these chickens make you happy too?” - Anjana Gayen, Mohisgot, Sankrail, West Bengal.

“I grew up watching my mother stitch clothes and scrub floors till her hands were red raw, just so we could survive. I wanted to pursue higher studies but there was just no money for that. So I took a course in Smartphone Repair and a fire was lit in my belly.

Niyati Sareen is the Project Director (Water & Education) at Hinduja Foundation, which partners with Ambuja Foundation via its group companies, IndusInd Bank, and Ashok Leyland. and Hinduja Leyland Finance. She found her calling in life when she was asked to Head CSR & Sustainability at a large infrastructure development organization, and from there went on to join the Hinduja Foundation.