This National Technology Day (May 11th, 2025) let’s celebrate a story of how access to science and creativity is changing lives in India’s most underserved regions.
A compelling new book The Moving of Mountains (Penguin Enterprise) by Adhirath Sethi traces the 25-year journey of Agastya Foundation, a grassroots education movement that has quietly become a global model for innovation in science education. In villages where electricity was once a luxury, Agastya’s mobile science labs, innovation hubs, and creative learning centres are helping over 424,000 girls learn to code, build, experiment—and lead.
The Moving of Mountains tells the inspiring story of how a small group of visionaries transformed Agastya into one of the world’s most respected educational foundations. Through a hands-on, innovative approach to science education, Agastya has sparked curiosity, nurtured creativity, and empowered thousands of children across India and beyond. From its humble beginnings to global recognition, this book highlights Agastya’s resilience, scalable solutions, and pioneering methods that are shaping the future of education. A must-read for educators, policymakers, and social entrepreneurs, it offers both a compelling case study and a practical guide for implementing impactful educational innovations.
About The Author
Adhirath Sethi is a businessman and author, based in Bangalore. He is also a trustee for the Agastya International Foundation. He is an alumnus of The Rishi Valley School, Eton College, and the London School of Economics. A former management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, he took an all too eager plunge into entrepreneurship in 2008. In 2019, to commemorate Agastya’s two decades since inception, a proposal was put forth to capture the story of the foundation’s remarkable journey. He spent the first half of 2022 interviewing anyone that might have insights into Agastya. Speaking with everyone from front-line workers to donors, to board members, and senior management, the inside story of Agastya began to emerge.
As a board member of the Agastya International Foundation, and as Chairman of the Navam Foundation, Adhirath’s involvement in the NGO space spans over ten years and includes contributions to fundraising, operations management and strategy.
