People who kept going
23 real stories, written simply: where they began, what went wrong, what they did next. Read one, then tell it in your own words.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Aerospace scientist, 11th President of India
From a newspaper-selling childhood to India's “Missile Man” and President.
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Ratan Tata
Industrialist and philanthropist
Started on the shop floor, then took an Indian group global.
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Mary Kom
Boxer
From a farming family in Manipur to world champion, again and again.
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Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Jurist, economist, social reformer
From facing caste discrimination in school to shaping India's Constitution.
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N.R. Narayana Murthy
Co-founder of Infosys
Seven founders and a small borrowed sum became a global company.
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Sudha Murty
Engineer, author, philanthropist
She challenged a 'men only' job advert and got the job.
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A.R. Rahman
Composer
Lost his father at nine; music became his path.
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Arunima Sinha
Mountaineer
She lost a leg, then climbed the world's highest mountain.
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Kalpana Chawla
Astronaut and engineer
A girl from Karnal who reached for the stars, literally.
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P.V. Sindhu
Badminton player
Long daily journeys to practice built an Olympic medallist.
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Savitribai Phule
Educator and social reformer
She taught girls when society said girls shouldn't learn.
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Abraham Lincoln
16th President of the United States
Born in a log cabin, largely self-taught, lost elections before leading his nation.
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Oprah Winfrey
Broadcaster, producer, philanthropist
From a childhood in poverty to one of the most influential voices in media.
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Thomas Edison
Inventor
Very little formal schooling, more than a thousand patents.
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Walt Disney
Animator and entrepreneur
His first studio went bankrupt. He kept drawing.
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J.K. Rowling
Author
A single parent on benefits whose manuscript was rejected many times.
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Michael Jordan
Basketball player
Left off his school's varsity team, he used it as fuel.
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Steve Jobs
Co-founder of Apple
Started in a garage, was pushed out of his own company, then came back.
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Helen Keller
Author, activist and lecturer
Unable to see or hear from infancy, she became a world-famous author and advocate.
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Marie Curie
Physicist and chemist
The governess who became the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two sciences.
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Nelson Mandela
Anti-apartheid leader, President of South Africa
27 years in prison, then a President who chose reconciliation.
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Malala Yousafzai
Education activist
A schoolgirl who spoke up for education and became the youngest Nobel laureate.
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Mother Teresa
Humanitarian and nun
She walked into Kolkata's poorest streets with almost nothing.
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