The drying up of the lake has turned out to be a fortune fall for the beedi workers of Mandya in Karnataka. when, the Mandya Beedi Workers Multipurpose Cooperative Housing Society set about giving each beedi worker's family a house, it seemed like a mirage. Chikkamandyakere, has sprouted the colony of 1,500 houses that will soon turn into a thriving habitation of nearly 10,000 people, for whom, the dream house would have remained a mirage but for the efforts by a determined set of activists led by Mohammad Zabiullah, the president of the society. However, what lies buried beneath the concrete structure in this locale are the tales of grit and motivation of scores of community leaders and social workers of the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and sweat and toil of the common beedi workers who responded to the call for social change.