Here we have made a modest attempt to feature some of the less frequented names who made a marked difference to the country with their work. There may be a lot of people whom we may have forgotten, please be free to write to us about them and we will definitely add to our list… Click here to contribute.

Indira Gandhi (Politics)Strong-willed and headstrong, Indira Gandhi has been India's only woman Prime Minister. An active participant in India's freedom struggle, her controversial political career ended with her assassination by her Sikh security guards in 1984.

Dhirubhai Ambani (Industrialist)

The owner of the biggest and the most profitable corporation in India. He was responsible for building the Indian stock market, influencing it creating wealth and building aspiration for million people years before liberalisation and info-tech czars came along.

N. R. Narayana Murthy (Silicon Surfer)

The person responsible for creating a value chain of such proportion that infotech in India spells Infosys. He was one of the key person to institutionalise the employee stock options. Murthy made Infosys a million candlepower lighthouse of India, which the country can do, around the world.

MS Subbalaxmi (Music)Prodigiously talented, M S Subbalaxmi is a gem in the pantheon of Indian musicians. At the age of ten, she recorded her first album. A classical artist of the highest caliber, she spent her early childhood practicing for hours on the thambura.

Kiran Bedi (Police)

The first woman Inspector General of Police and the first Indian woman IPS officer, Magsaysay award winner Kiran Bedi evokes the image of `supercop'. Controversial from the very beginning, she has headed Tihar jail in the course of her career.

Amitabh Bachchan (Actor)

He made brooding, righteous anger the most fashionable mood since the Quit India Movement. He was responsible for turning bollywood into a brand name, a marketable beehive of frenzy. For him there is no Sunset Boulevard.

Kalpana Chawla (Aerospace)

A university of Colorado graduate with a doctorate in aerospace engineering, Kalpana Chawla became the first Indian American to fly the US space shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. She was one of six astronauts aboard the flight.

Shabana Azmi (Films)

Daughter of Kaifi Azmi and IPTA actress Shaukat Azmi, Shabana joined films after training in acting from the FTII. Apart from acting in new wave and mainstream films, she also strove for communal harmony and the rights of slum-dwellers.

P T Usha (Sports)

The queen of Indian track and field for two decades, P.T. Usha, or the "Payyoli Express," started from a humble beginning and grew to represent India at the Asian Games. The Indian Olympic Association named her sports person of the century.

Rukmini Devi Arundale (Dance)

Bharatanatyam would have languished in obscurity if not for Rukmini Devi Arundale who ensured that the dance form became a household name. She founded the Kalakshetra Academy, an institution in the field of music and dance.

Savitribai Phule (Education)

Savitribai Phule was one of the foremost crusaders, fighting against the atrocities committed against lower caste Hindus by the upper caste. She started the first school for girls in Maharashtra.

Medha Patkar (Social Work)

Medha Patkar has been a central strategist of Narmada Bachao Andolan. She is an example of one woman taking on the system, in spite of untold intimidation and threats to her life.

Indira Jaising (Law)

The most prominent woman lawyer in India, Indira Jaising has handled the Roopan Deol Bajaj and the Bhopal disaster case, among others. She takes a special interest in cases related to injustice toward women.

Great Leaders of India

Living Legends

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