How a Simple Solar Lantern is Lighting Up 30000 Homes in Rural India 

Lighting the Shadows: The Story of Bhaskar, a Lantern with a Heart

In the dusky silence of rural India, where the sun dips below the horizon and darkness often overstays its welcome, a quiet revolution is flickering to life — not in megawatts, but in moments of hope.

This revolution wears no cape, but it straps neatly to a knee, swings from a bicycle handle, and sits humbly in a student’s lap. Its name? Bhaskar — the bearer of sunlight, even at midnight.

Born from the minds of a husband-and-wife duo with a vision that burns brighter than any filament, Bhaskar began as a sketch in Deepali Dhande’s notebook. Her husband, entrepreneur Sachin Dhande, took that sketch and turned it into a lifeline. Compact, lightweight, and rugged enough for the fields, this solar-powered lantern is more than just a piece of engineering — it’s a tribute to resilience.

Sachin’s own story casts the backdrop: a boy from a lower middle-class household, squinting over schoolbooks lit by kerosene flames, lungs filling with smoke, eyes stinging, but dreams untouched. That boy grew up and decided that no child should ever have to choose between breathing clean air and finishing homework.

Thus came Bhaskar — a solar lantern that doesn’t just fight darkness, but defeats dependency.

Its glow now stretches far and wide, lighting over 30,000 homes across India’s villages. In communities like that of Padma Shri awardee Rahibai Soma Popere, Bhaskar isn’t just a lantern — it’s the only source of light. It’s the power station that fits in a satchel.

With up to 8 hours of brightness and a gentle 24-hour dim mode, Bhaskar fits seamlessly into village life. Its intuitive design, minimal wiring, and no-fuss maintenance are tailored for places where repair shops are luxuries, not certainties. But even in moments of wear and tear, there’s a Plan B: Bhaskar ATMs — hubs where trained locals earn a dignified living fixing lanterns for a small fee. Empowering the very people it serves? That’s built into the blueprint.

And so, as the world races ahead with megacities and megaprojects, Bhaskar reminds us that true innovation doesn’t always roar — sometimes, it glows softly in a child’s study corner or lights a farmer’s path home.

A solar lantern. A simple idea. A massive impact.

One home at a time, Bhaskar is lighting up the future.