大象传媒

Yellavva Balappa from north Karnataka state in India had to swim for two hours across a monsoon-swollen river to get to the nearest maternity hospital, despite being heavily pregnant.

Helen Macdonald chose an unusual way to deal with her grief after her father died suddenly - she bought a goshawk, a bird which is notoriously difficult to train. Her book about her experiences is called H is for Hawk.

Joel Zwicky is a police officer from Green Bay, Wisconsin, who patrols on a skateboard.

Ben Fong-Torres is a legendary figure in the music business. He was news editor of the influential Rolling Stone magazine in its heyday and interviewed some of the greatest rock stars of the 20th Century. He was one of five children whose parents had emigrated to America from China in the 1920s.

Photo credit: Venkatesh Dore