On most days, people crossed the bridge over Kerala’s Meenachil River without slowing down. Boats drifted gently below, plastic bottles floated along the water, and life moved on around the river as though the waste had become part of the landscape. 

But one afternoon, a young man carrying a rented camera stopped long enough to notice something that would eventually change two lives forever.

In the middle of the river sat an elderly 69-year-old man in a small wooden boat, rowing carefully through the water. Every few minutes, he leaned over to collect discarded plastic bottles floating nearby and placed them inside the boat. 

Some people standing near the banks even tossed empty bottles towards him, knowing he would pick those up too.

The man was N S Rajappan, fondly known in his village as Rajappan Chettan. Paralysed since childhood, he could not walk. But every day, he dragged himself to the riverbank, climbed into his boat and spent hours cleaning plastic waste from the river.

Watching him from the bridge was Nandu KS, a young engineer who had recently returned to Kerala after working in Abu Dhabi.

At the time, Nandu was trying to rebuild his life around something he truly loved. Though he had trained and worked as an electrical engineer, photography had always been his real........

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