As home to some of India's biggest corporations and cleverest computer programmers, Bangalore has built an enviable and deserved reputation as an international commerce and innovation hub. A confident, brash city, it embodies modern India where western-style consumerism rubs shoulders with poverty, disease and hunger.
Yet the city's innovation is not limited to software and computing, for its inhabitants are on the verge of another major breakthrough which could have a seismic effect on Indian life: the control of the world's most lethal disease, rabies.
With the latest estimates that 17,000 people die of the disease there every year, Bangalore's rabies experts, along with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, certainly have their work cut out.
The epidemic is largely caused by the country's huge number of unvaccinated dogs and it is exacerbated by a lack of understanding among the local population about what to do if a bite occurs and how to control the ever-expanding population of free-roaming dogs. Along with the customary tradition of villagers visiting local healers instead of physicians, accountability for animal health and welfare is difficult to say the least.
Which makes what is going on in the village of Tagachakuppe so important, not to mention inspiring. The trick with rabies control is getting buy-in from across the community, and so just as veterinary scientists believe that 70% vaccination across the dog population is required to sustain herd immunity, a successful control project needs similar levels of support among the human population.
So when we were planning our Adopt a Village project in Tagachakuppe our secret weapon wasn't veterinary or medical experts - although they certainly played a role - but the local mothers and carers. By far the biggest victims of rabies in India are children, so enlisting the help of those involved in childcare made sense on two fronts: they can deal with kids and they have a strong incentive to do so.
Training mothers and other women to educate the young about the dangers of playing with dogs, how to identify and report risks and what to do in the event of a bite had some surprising side effects. One was the sense of empowerment that came with the new-found ability to protect lives. This was so profound in one woman, she wept when we met her for the first time. Another was the light it shined on local customs, such as the village healers who advised not to wash wounds for fear of hurrying the disease's onset, literally deadly advice.
With our mums' army fully mobilised, we were well on our way to getting a credible rabies plan in place. But our support didn't end here. Local teachers, too, played a part, working rabies advice into the curriculum at all ages. And then came the health professionals - vets and doctors, whose oversight was crucial, as will be their ability to export this scheme to other localities once they have finished their training.
With this project now complete, we can say with confidence that we have eliminated rabies in three villages. And at a cost of a few cents per year per person, one of our key priorities now is to secure funding so that we can roll out the project in other communities. Some benefits are already being felt further afield, as rabies education is already being incorporated by some states into the educational curriculum. It gives us confidence that one day, we will achieve our objective of eliminating rabies worldwide.