malegaon

The glow from burning jatropha seed torches has often saved Maruti Chindu from treading on snakes, but now he carefully nurtures them for a use that he never imagined before — running cars and trucks. On the hilly grasslands of the western state of Maharashtra, near the village of Malegaon, Chindu and his tribe of about 40 men and women busily plant jatropha saplings.