Professor Sandeep Desai divides his time between running two schools -- one for slum children in Mumbai and the other in rural Maharashtra. To achieve his goal of setting up one school every year in a backward area, he collects donations from commuters in Mumbai's local trains.
In the last three months, Professor Sandeep Desai has been on the front page of a national daily, has been featured in a popular magazine and has received a personal endorsement from actor Salman Khan.
The neatly dressed professor made several heads turn earlier this year when he got on a crowded train compartment, clutching a donation box under his arm, and started begging for funds to complete the construction of a primary school in Zadgaon in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra.
He appreciates the overwhelming appreciation and goodwill that he has encountered after the media, and Salman Khan via his twitter page, made him an instantly recognisable figure.
But Professor Desai had a sincere request: "Please understand that the mission is more important. Please focus on our mission, not me".
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