Kumari Shibulal: making a difference in society
Suchitra Sharma meets Kumari Shibulal, whose Sarojini Damodaran Foundation funds full scholarships for underprivileged students across India.
Explore every Featured Stories article on Thoughtful India — in-depth reporting, analysis, and perspectives on featured stories across India.
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Suchitra Sharma meets Kumari Shibulal, whose Sarojini Damodaran Foundation funds full scholarships for underprivileged students across India.

Ayush Sharma, 17 — a mechanic's son and Kendriya Vidyalaya topper from Kanpur — won admission to MIT with a scholarship worth nearly a crore.

The March 2015 gang-rape of a 71-year-old nun during a robbery at a Ranaghat convent — and the political firestorm that followed.

Suchitra Sharma on the Rashomon effect — why two people can witness the same event and remember it completely differently.

An Arizona foster teen who grew up with one pair of too-small shoes asked her adoptive mom for 17,000 pairs — one for every child in the state's foster care.

J&K's 2015 budget offered ₹1,000 a month for every newborn girl — maturing to ₹6.5 lakh at 21 — to fight the state's falling child sex ratio.

A March 2015 Naperville crash at 75th Street and Modaff Road injured a bicyclist — a reminder to share the road as riding season returns.

When a bully taunted cheerleader Desiree Andrews, who has Down syndrome, three Lincoln Middle School basketball players walked off the court to stop it.

A bride in Rasoolabad, Uttar Pradesh, called off her wedding when the groom answered 15 + 6 as 17 — saying his family had hidden his poor education.

Prabha Arun Kumar, 41, was stabbed to death in Parramatta Park, Sydney, on March 7, 2015 — reviving fears about the safety of Indians in Australia.

Convicted rapist Mukesh Singh's unrepentant interview for the BBC documentary India's Daughter — and the outrage and broadcast ban that followed.

A Swedish study of 49,321 men linked lower cognitive ability to heavier drinking — while an LSE study found more educated women drink more frequently.

Sometimes the allergen isn't the fruit — it's the antibiotic sprayed on it. The 2013 blueberry-pie anaphylaxis case that traced back to streptomycin.

Suchitra Sharma on why lying and loving coexist — from white lies to protect a partner to Clancy Martin's 'Good Lovers Lie' argument.

In 2015, the Gurgaon administration mooted a women-only cab service — 50 Tata Nanos driven by women, aimed at safer commutes for working women.

In February 2015, Israeli journalist Zvika Klein walked Paris for ten hours wearing a kippah, filming the reactions — weeks after the Hypercacher attack.

Psychologist Arthur Aron's 36 questions — escalating self-disclosure designed to build closeness — went viral after Mandy Len Catron tried them in the NYT.

Chicago-area Hindi theater group Ekjut called for local talent — stand-up, shayari, and one-act plays — for its May 2015 event.

In February 2015, 28 prisoners escaped from the Nova Mutum jail in Brazil after three women in fake police uniforms drugged the guards with spiked whisky.

In the 2015 Delhi elections, a ten-student IIT-Bombay team built a sentiment-analysis tool that helped AAP read voter mood on social media — and win 67 of