Synopsis In 1998, after the success of his path-breaking book, The Great Indian Middle Class, Pavan K. Varma began to write a fortnightly column in The Hindustan Times called People Like Us. People Like Us sought to profile people and organizations who had somehow broken through the barriers of apathy, cynicism and alienation and found ways to contribute in personally satisfying ways to society, over and above their normal preoccupations. Some of the people so profiled are well known. Others are less so. But they are all role models for those of us who want to do a little extra in our lives to create a better nation and a better society.