Know the 10 great Indians with incredible zeal

New Delhi: There are many people who are crazy, there are people who are awesome, but there are a few people who are an amalgamation of both. These people are remembered forever for their contributions to the society at large.Here is a list of top 10 such people who have made a mark on Indians: 1. E Sreedharan, the Metro Man He was the chief planner of Delhi's Rs 144.3 billion Metro project. He served as the Mangaing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation between 1995-2012. He came into limelight when he rebuilt the Pamban bridge which was washed away by a cyclone that connected Rameshwaram to mainland Tamil Nadu. He was given a target of rebuilding it within three months but he did a remarkable job of completing it in 46 days. In 1970, he was appointed as in charge of the first metro in India, Kolkata metro. Cochin Shipyard launched Rani Padmini (it's the first ship built), when he was its Chairman and Managing Director in 1981. Though he retired fram Indian Railways as Member Engineering in 1990, he was called back for the Konkan railway contract by the then railway minister, George Fernandes. Under his stewardship, the company executed its mandate in seven years.He was made the managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in 1997. All sections of the Delhi metro were completed on or before schedule. He has also been awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by the government of France. Lately, he has been appointed as Principal Advisor of the Kochi Metro Rail Project. He is currently 81 now.Sreedharan broke away from standard Railway bureaucracy, and brought about incredible zeal in his team to achieve the impossible. 2. Jadav Molai Payeng, the founder of “Molai woods” He started planting trees on a sandbar when he was 16 after seeing the plight of endangered reptiles in the forests of Golaghat district in Assam. Now it is a full fledged forest called Molai forests named after him. It houses Bengal tigers, Indian rhinoceros, over 100 deer and rabbits besides apes and several varieties of birds, including a large number of vultures. Bamboo covers an area of over 300 hectares. In 2008 forest officials were surprised to find such a dense forest in the middle of a sandbar. 3. T.N. SheshanIndia's former Cabinet Secretary, known as a go-getter for his no-nonsense approach gave teeth to the Election Commission of India. He was instrumental in abolishing malpractices to a large extent during elections. As Chief Election Commissioner of India, he struck terror in the hearts of booth capturers.During his tenure, cleanest elections were held in India. He was successful in abolishing wrong practices during elections like: bribing or intimidating voters, distributing liquor during the elections, using official machinery for campaigning, appealing to voters' caste or communal feelings, using places of worship for campaigns, and using loudspeakers without prior written permission. 4. Dr. Subramanian Swamy Known as a political maverick, Dr Swamy treaded on the toes of several big political heavyweights like Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi, Sonia Gandhi and even Atal Bihari Vajpayee. After the Janata Party broke into several pieces in 1980, Swamy headed the rump Janata Party, keeping the 'Haldhar' symbol with him. Recently his Janata Party merged into the BJP. Swamy served as Law Minister for four months during former Prime Minister Chandrasekhar's regime. Of late, he has been instrumental in filing cases against prominent politicians in courts to expose major scams, particularly the 2G scam. In early life, while pursuing his studies in Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, he critiqued the work of his professor P C Mahalanobis (one of India's greatest statisticians) of plagiarism and was right. Soon during his tenure in IIT as an economics professor, he came to be known for his non-Left views. He argued that India doesn't need foreign aid and still could achieve 10 percent growth rate.In March 1970, during the Parliament debate on the budget, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi mentioned Swamy by name and dismissed him as a “Santa Claus with unrealistic ideas.” Swamy had come forward with his Swadeshi Plan for Bharatiya Jana Sangh. In 1972, Swamy was given a letter saying he had been sacked from IIT with effect from 5 pm and his wife, who taught mathematics, was also sacked. Swamy took IIT to court, eventually winning his case in 1991. He rejoined as a professor for one day and then resigned. He still has a case pending against IIT for a claim of salary arrears for the 1972-91 Period, which he wants with 18 percent interest. During Emergency, when an arrest warrant was issued against him, he fled to America, seeking safe haven. Dr. Swamy was then a member of Rajya Sabha and in case of absence of more than six months he could have lost his seat. In 1976 when emergency was still in force and an arrest warrant still pending in his name, he came to Parliament in the garb of a Sikh to attend the session and managed to escape India after attending the session.5. Rameshwar Nath Kao, Spymaster He was the first chief of RAW from 1969 to 1977. He was an intensely private man, no one knew his whereabouts. He was photographed only twice in public throughout his life. He was considered among top 5 intelligence chiefs of his time. He played a very important role in the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, and merger of Sikkim into India. 6. Neerja Bhanot, a brave air hostess She made a memorable mark on the world with her self-sacrifice when she was the flight attendant on the Pan Am hijacking (1986) at Karachi. The flight was heading from Mumbai to New York via Pakistan and Germany.While at Karachi, terrorists came aboard in an attempt to hijack.She warned the plane's pilots so they could escape.Their quick getaway made the hijacking fail because the terrorists were stuck on the ground.In the final bloodbath at the end of the hijacking, Neerja was killed, just two days ahead of her 23rd birthday. Not only had she assured the failure of the hijacking by preventing the plane from getting off the ground, she also saved the lives of hostages in those long hours of incarceration. She hid the passports of American passengers from the Arabic speaking gunmen, giving them a chance to escape the homicidal wrath of the intruders. For her bravery, the Government of India posthumously awarded her the Ashok Chakra. She is the youngest recipient of Ashok Chakra till date. In 2004, the Indian Postal Service released a stamp commemorating her. 7. Narayanan KrishnanA chef turned social worker who declined a lucrative job in Switzerland to serve his nation. One day he saw a poor man eating human waste for food. This hurt him so much that he left his job and found an NGO named Akshaya Trust in 2003 which serves more than 1.2 million meals for the destitutes. He carries a comb, scissors and razor and is trained in eight haircut styles that, along with a fresh shave, provide extra dignity to those he serves. He won CNN Heroes Award out of 100 countries and 10,000 entries, selected in top 2 of the World. 8. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, women rights activistShe played a significant role in country's independence. She spent a total of 5 years in jail which included a year of solitary confinement for her march for Salt Satyagraha from Mumbai. She was the first woman to stand for assembly elections (Madras in 1926), but she lost by only 200 votes.She was against the orthodox Indian traditions and set an example for the liberation of Indian women.She was married at an early age and was then widowed. She went against the prevalent customs and remarried the person she fell in love with while she was in college. She played tennis with boys and went mountain trekking when women moved around in Purdah.She acted in films when women working in movies were looked down upon and mostly men played women on screen. 9. R.M. Rajarathinam, The best Librarian in India A man with a good heart, he gave away all his salary as a Librarian in charity and instead did odd jobs to earn a living for his family. He served the for 35 years at the Kumarkurupara Arts College at Srivaikuntam in Tuticorin districtHe has also come forward to donate his body and eyes to the Tirunelveli Medical College after death. The Union Government has acclaimed him as “The Best Librarian in India.” He has also been chosen as `one of the top ten librarians of the world.' The International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, has honored him as `one of the noblest of the world', while the United Nations Organisation adjudged him as one of the Outstanding People of the 20th Century'. An American organisation has also selected him as the ‘Man of the Millennium.' 10. Dr. Verghese Kurien, father of White RevolutionHe was the man behind Operation Flood, that brought about milk revolution in India. The Anand pattern experiment at Amul, a single cooperative dairy, was the engine behind the success of the program. Kurien, a mechanical engineer, was half-heartedly working at Anand to serve his scholarship bond period, when he came in touch with Tribhuvandas Patel, who had launched the Anand cooperative. Kurien revealed he once went with Indian officials to Nestle in Europe to seek their help in revolutionizing milk production in India, but was laughed at. His buddy H M Dalaya invented the process of making skimmed milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo milk, whereas Nestle was using the process only for cow milk. In 1965, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri while inspecting the Anand milk facility hugged Kurien and gave him the charge of National Dairy Development Board.Operation Flood took India from being a milk-deficient nation, to the largest milk producer in the world, surpassing the United States of America in 1998, with about 17 percent of global output in 2010–11, which in 30 years doubled the milk available to every person. He made the country self-sufficient in edible oils too later on, taking head-on the powerful and entrenched oil supplying lobby. Kurien, who died at the age of 90, is hailed as the “Milkman of India”. He was an atheist.Kurien won several awards including the Padma Vibhushan, the World Food Prize and the Magsaysay Award for community leadership.