Good News India: Ordinary Indians, Extraordinary Triumphs

Every now and then, you come across a book that you never intended to read, and yet once you are finished with it, you are a changed person. Good News India is one such book. It is a book of hope, of perseverance, of fighting an uphill battle and coming out victorious.

DV Sridharan has done a yeoman’s service to the nation by bringing these stories to us. Good News India is a book that contains the stories of twenty-five exemplary individuals and institutions that have worked in the area of environment conservation, social development, women’s upliftment, and community-driven initiatives that have triumphed over adversities to improve the lives of people. Sometimes with the government and bureaucratic set-up and sometimes, despite it.
A retired marine engineer, Sridharan was driven to see what keeps India going and bring stories of hope to Indians.

What started as a website in the early Y2K era has culminated in this book, which contains 25 stories from the 300-odd ones on the website. The book contains the story of Salumardha Thimmaka, who planted 300 stories over a length of four kilometres. It also contains the story of Bindeshwar Pathak, who has been synonymous with hygiene and stopping of manual scavenging through his organization, Sulabh International. It also recounts the story of two very young, spirited women, Vandana and Vaishnavi, who took it upon themselves to care for women who were in bad mental health and had nowhere else to turn and reunite them with their families once they had recovered. These are just a few stories that are contained in the book, which is nothing less than a treasure trove.
These triumphs show that there are systematic issues in the country, which Sridharan promptly highlights in the epilogue. But it gives hope for a better India. If one person can bring a change, then a billion Indians can bring a revolution.

P.S. In a world full of nihilist attitudes, this book is a breath of fresh air and should be read by all young people who are about to venture into the ‘real world’.