One question from a student made Dr Sudipti Arora rethink the purpose of her work.

While teaching one day, the biotechnologist, who holds a PhD from IIT Roorkee, was asked, “Ma’am, is any of this useful outside the classroom?” Instead of leaving the question unanswered, she decided to take science beyond the laboratory and into Aandhi Gaon in Rajasthan, where she believed practical solutions could improve everyday life.

She drew up a plan to help the village become completely zero waste and secured a grant of Rs 2 crore to make it happen. On the very day the funding was approved, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 cancer. Even as she underwent chemotherapy, she continued working on the project, determined not to let it come to a halt.

Where nothing goes to waste

One of the first systems she introduced was a patented vermifiltration technology. “This is one of a kind, my own patented technology. Vermifiltration technology is being........

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