I met Venkat this week who has devoted his life to education, health and economic well being in his small community of tribals, travellers and hunters (the dispossessed) in this remote corner of Tamil Nadu. 

It all started when he had just graduated 45 years ago and came to relieve a people ravaged by a tornado that swept away 70% of the population and left the rest hanging from trees in desperation. 

Step by step he began by going from village to village and giving very basic schooling to the children who were illiterate. 

His greatest breakthrough came when he rescued a new born who they had given up for dead and took it to a hospital 15 miles away on his pushbike. 

The child’s faintest heartbeat was enough to give him hope and the child recovered with treatment. The villagers were clearly impressed and he gradually recruited some as volunteers to help him in his endeavours.