Tulasi Munda was born into a poor tribal family, the day before India attained Independene in the remote and impoverished Serenda region in Orissa. She learnt to read and write by herself. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Vinobha Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan, she decided that the only gift that she could give to her people would be education. 35 years ago she established a school under a tree. She sold puffed rice to raise money. Over the years the school has educated over 20000 people! Her organisation, called Adivasi Vikas Samithi runs the school in Serenda and have 16 outreach centres in the villages of Keonjarh district and helps primary education accessible to the poor.