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True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

Outlook: The Water Man of Rajasthan

Rajendra Singh

14/04/2015

The Water Man of Rajasthan

BBC World Service - Outlook, The Water Man of Rajasthan

How one man made seven dried-up rivers flow again.

Rajendra Singh has made seven dried-up rivers flow again. He is a former government worker who quit his city job to move to a village that had run out of water.

Thirty years ago, Rajendra Singh gave up his government job in Jaipur and moved to a village without water - the rivers had dried up, and most people had moved away. So he made it his mission to get the water back - and he's done it, not by some fancy modern method, but by reviving a tradition that had fallen out of use. He's just been awarded the respected Stockholm Water Prize. 

At 25, Gerald Weaver, was the youngest Chief of Staff in Washington DC, and became a lobbyist after that, representing the views of big business. But he got caught up with a scandal and was convicted of drugs offences and obstructing justice. He spent 15 months in jail, and was released when a court ruled that his attorney had a conflict of interest during the trial. Gerald has since written a novel set in prison.

Mary Portas is known in Britain as the 'Queen of Shops'. She was asked by the government to come up with a plan to breathe new life into drab high streets. And she's a household name because of her television show in which she doles out advice to shopkeepers. Mary started out dressing windows and made her name at a famous department store in London. But her personal story is less well known. Mary grew up outside the capital, a self-confessed naughty child. But her life changed very dramatically when, as a teenager, her mother died suddenly. Mary was left at home with her tea salesman father and younger brother, Lawrence.

We've had a bit of a farming theme on Outlook over the past week or so - with farmers from around the world giving us an insight into their working lives. We're making our final visit today - to the farm of Trey Lewis, who keeps bison, or buffalo, in Maryland in the eastern United States. Jane O'Brien braved the snow and ice to see him. 

Picture: Rajendra Singh. Credit:Tarun Bharat Sangh.

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