Beginnings of the Journey In 1997 a group of young primary school teachers working in government schools in Solapur district, Maharashtra, were motivated to form a Dhadpad Manch, by the then Deputy Education Officer, Ms. Suman Shinde. Initially, there was a lot of enthusiasm, but when she was transferred, work slowed down. The year 2004 was a turning point for the teachers, since they were contacted by the Ravi J. Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation (RJMCEI), Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and invited to share their innovative work with the RJMCEI. The three teachers, Siddharam Raygonda Mashale, Ananta Haribhau Baodhankar and Rahul Londhe, responded. Their work was studied and documented by the RJMCEI, and the teachers were honoured with the Sir Ratan Tata Trust Innovative Teacher Award. The group was motivated and thought of popularizing the idea of innovative teaching by roping in other innovative teachers. The teachers felt that they should form a body outside the government, since the transfer of officials had hindered their work earlier. In February, 2006, with the support of RJMCEI, SIRF (State Innovation & Research Foundation, Solapur), was founded. The teachers felt that their hard work had paid off. Initially, the goals of SIRF were the following: to provide a platform to innovative teachers to showcase their work; create healthy competition among the teachers; expand the idea of innovative teachers to innovative schools; communicate to teachers innovative ideas in the field of education; engage in discussions on the problems that teachers faced in their classrooms.