'The beef fest is about an individual's freedom to wear what he wants and eat what he wants. The students were protesting against the state interfering with their personal liberties.' 'Everybody has the right to air his or her opinion and lead a life they want. Nobody has any right to put restrictions on others. What we need is tolerance but what we see is intolerance.' Deepa Nisanth, a lecturer who backed Kerala's beef fest, on why she supported the students in their protest.

The inspiring story of B Udhaya Krishna and his friends is the story of today's aspirational India, the India that encourages entrepreneurial spirit. Hurdles like poverty, discouragement and insults are just temporary hindrances in front of them to work hard to achieve their dreams.

'When the youth population is so large, in a globalised world, they look for opportunities. Are there enough opportunities for the youth in India?' 'The idea of affirmative action has to be creating capability. All individuals have potential. Unfortunately, there is capability deprivation because of the State's inaction.' 'Nation building has been a disaster in India mainly because we lacked the work ethic compared to the US and European countries.'

Atheela Abdullah, who grew up in a small village in the Malabar region of Kerala shares her inspiring success story.

'There is nothing wrong in accepting Rama as a God.' 'You will not get to read a story as deep as Valmiki's Ramayana in which he talks about complex relations, strong emotions, pain, desertion and unconditional love. Whether you depict Rama as a human being or a divine person, the Ramayana is an epic with a great human story.' 'It is not religious intolerance at all; this is part of political power and polarisation. A religious person will never act intolerant towards another religion.'

Malliga and Jayalalitha talk to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com about how millet farming changed their lives, their successful trip to Milan and how their 'murukku' was appreciated at Milan.

'There were tears in my eyes when I parted with my medals. I thought was it for this moment did I become a soldier?' In 2008, Captain H Balakrishnan (retd) of the Indian Navy returned all his medals to the President of India to protest the government's failure to implement the One Rank One Pension scheme.

The UK has responded to PM Modi's call to 'Make in India' by launching great collaborations in January 2015.

'Modi has entered blunderland as he does not understand the army. He has actually meddled with the army, which is much more damaging than the ignorance of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.' 'People had an impression that the BJP was different. Now it has been made very, very, plain that it is not.' 'Look at the contrast in the behaviour of the prime minister. When they burnt buses in Gujarat for an unjust demand, the prime minister addressed them in Gujarati while the army veterans were on relay hunger strike for the 74th day on that day, but no word on this from the PM.'

'Our case should act as a warning. It is high time change comes to society. This is not the way to treat a woman. I don't want any other woman to have a fate like mine.'

Eight years ago Subhashini's husband Colonel Vasanth was martyred fighting militants in Kashmir. Today, she offers hope to widows of army jawans who lost their lives in the line of duty.

'Everybody was ready to agree with the government if the process to acquire land was a judicious one. All of us want industrialisation and development of the country.'

When the news of Kalam's death came, the sculptor in Hussaini wanted to immortalise him like when he had done a huge sculpture of the first Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla.

Dr Tiju Joseph, a foreign service officer who studied medicine, has set up the first public online blood donors registry in the UAE.

Rediff.com digs into its archives, tracking down Dr M R Rajagopal's sincere efforts of changing lives and changing the way India looks at palliative care.

'Ever since I heard the news, I have been trying to recollect his face. Unfortunately I have not been able to.' 'It seems he was a very quiet, studious boy.' 'I still do not know how I might have missed him.'

'It is good for the country, but it is not good for a politician... What we call impatience is actually desperation to needing something NOW.' 'Our politics is restricted by one factor; that our Parliament is full of villages. 40% of the country now lives in cities but only 25% of Parliament is coming from the cities.'

'I remember him going to school in a cycle rickshaw. Even in the rickshaw, he would be reading some book. He never spoke to the other children who traveled with him in the cycle rickshaw. He was only interested in reading and getting good marks.' 'In Chennai, we call such boys, "IIT boys".'

A G Padmanabhan's dream is to make India a 'no food waste economy' and promote sustainable ideas.

A Muslim man taking a PhD in a dance form is not unusual, but it becomes interesting when the dance happens to be Mohiniyattam, says Shobha Warrier