In the press
From a Hyderabad city desk to the BBC and NPR — the reporting that followed a man with a spade.
- BBC News•17 April 2016The man who uses his pension fund to fill potholes
A day on the road with the man christened the 'doctor of roads', in the BBC's Unsung Indians series.
- NPR (Goats and Soda)•20 July 2015Look out, potholes! This 67-year-old retiree is out to fill you
A spade, two brooms, a wire brush, a crowbar — and a boot full of gravel and tar.
- The Hindu•2012Taking the road less travelled
Tilak's quiet revolution against the indifference of broken infrastructure.
- The News Minute•4 June 2015Road doctor: The Hyderabad man who quit his job to fix potholes with his pension money
From senior section engineer to full-time road repairer.
- The Better India•3 June 2015This retired railway employee has used his pension to fill more than 1,100 potholes
Gunny bags of tar-mixed gravel in the back seat, every single morning.
- Citizen Matters•21 February 2019Meet Hyderabad's road doctor who has wowed hundreds, even Amitabh Bachchan
1,359 potholes counted by January 2019 — and a question for the state.
- ABP Live•11 July 2021'Road Doctor': Elderly Hyderabad couple fills over 2,000 potholes with their own pension
Tilak and Venkateshwari, and the car they call the 'Pothole Ambulance'.
- Deccan Chronicle•16 March 2016'Doctor of Roads' builds a wheelchair ramp in a day
A disabled techie couldn't reach an ATM. Tilak answered within 30 minutes.
- Firstpost•4 June 2015This Hyderabad man fills over 1,000 potholes using his pension money
'Be the change you wish to see in the world' — taken literally.
- MensXP•14 August 2015The story of the Pothole Man: how an accident inspired a 67-year-old
A long interview on the philosophy behind Shramadaan.
- The Better India•24 August 2026The man who has spent 15 years fixing Hyderabad's potholes
2,000+ potholes repaired, and a movement that outgrew one man.