A Malayalee growing up in Gujarat has certain perks. Locals do not understand...
Exploring Relationship With Religion
I am not a religious person. However, by virtue of growing up in a religious...
Flight Over The World Of Education
Hello! I am a bird. I recently heard that a virus called Covid-19 affected the...
Having Skin In The Game – A Beautiful Challenge
It’s been a few days since I moved to my new field location - district Chamoli...
Farewell, Khandar
I had almost begun writing about another beginning as I move to a new work...
![What’s On Your Mind? [A Poem]](https://indiafellow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/WhatsApp-Image-2022-06-14-at-3.45.33-PM.jpeg)
What’s On Your Mind? [A Poem]
They show me the bulging veins,On your forehead and across your...
What Is Empowerment To You?
This question came as a jolt to me. I had never even thought about it. Asked...
A Love Letter To Panna
What is home to you? Is it a city or a person? Is it memories or the feeling...
Ek Garam Chai Ki Pyaali Ho
As a part of India Fellow, we are meant to fundraise for the activities and learnings of the cohort. It is to take ownership as an equal stakeholder and to also pick up fundraising as an essential skill set in the development sector. Here, I write about a story from 5...
The Bus Ride To Empowerment
As a fellow, a part of my work at WISE is to build the entrepreneurial collective of women weavers. Among other things, this entails investing my efforts in a network that can be leveraged for market generation. One of the ways of achieving this is to facilitate...
Kumbhars Of Bangalore, Off The Wheel
When you taste Chai in a Kulhad, you are deluged by the smell of the earthen pot. As a bit of the tea soaks into the clay, the interaction of both the flavours becomes heavenly. Chai in Kulhad is always special to me! Over a cup of tea, my friend and I started our...
Leisure And Entertainment In The Villages Of Himachal Pradesh
बाड़ी का मतलब होता है घर, और ये है कंडबाड़ी। पालमपुर की हरी वादियों में बसा एक गाँव, जहां फूलों से टकराके महकती है हवा। जहां चाय के बाग़ानों से घिरे हुए, आप दूर खड़ी धौलाधार की चोटियों को निहारते रह जाते हो। जहां कब सूरज निकलेगा और कब होगी बारिश, इसकी खबर किसी को...
To Pause And Smell The Flowers
As I walk back from the office, I call my mother. Sharing my updates from the day - which field area I went to, what was the agenda for the day, how much a team member liked or disliked the activity, how I caught the last bus that leaves at 4:30 PM as it was...
I Have Been Trying To End a Toxic Relationship : Here’s How It’s Going
Sometimes it’s the little things that get you. Mine is that bottle of Coca-Cola. Ahhh, that instant rush upon that first slurp, which is soon followed by the birthing notes of satisfaction and then the relief in a predictable *burrrrppp*! Excuse me! I can now think...
The Safe Havens They Created
Living In The Moment The winters of Kutch are transient. The sun seeks to dig deeper than your skin can tan. On one such late winter day, along with my team of women investing in cooperatives and female sex workers, we were on a bus-trip to Nakhatrana and Vithon to...
All Roads Lead To Doom
I was in Bangalore last month, roaming around pretty late at night. Around 1:30 am, a policeman stopped by and asked us what we were up to. I replied, “Nothing, just roaming around”. He got offended for some reason and said that it is not allowed, as only the 'police'...
![Hum Development Kar Rahe Hain [This Claim Is Disputed]](https://indiafellow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Himalay_blog4_img1-scaled-e1612265495448.jpg)
Hum Development Kar Rahe Hain [This Claim Is Disputed]
This blog is a mix of observations and realizations in the last month of working as a fellow. I'll be shuffling between the two... One fine morning, a co-fellow and I were arguing if an SHG (Self-Help Group) needs to be trained on enterprise development or not. At the...
Love Story: Return – Part 2/2
Read Part 1 here “ㅤ Zuleikha, I am here. Zulu, l have come. Zulu, please take me in. He looks weak. Dead, if I were honest. I had cut off my past, my past had cut me off. Why is he here… Zuleikha, I looked for you. Zulu, I looked for you in the whorehouses. Zulu, you...
Sustainability In A World Of Saviours
At the risk of sounding trite, the fellowship seems almost incomplete if you do not bring up Swades, the movie, at least once. From a third person's viewpoint, a fellow’s transition from a city to an idyllic rural setup sufficiently resembles the plot of the...
…Ab Toh Bhai Chal Padi, Apni Yeh Naav Hai…
Having lived grounded for most of my life, moving to a new city would’ve been a horrifying thought. But then there’s a time in one’s life when change is necessary – it hands itself over to you when you least expect it – like finding that crumpled Re 500 note in your...
Help, I’m Drowning In Chai!
What happens when you throw a Gen Z coffee addict into a Gujarati society? This blog post... If you’ve ever been a guest at anyone’s house in any part of the country, (or any Indian’s place of residence anywhere, really), I am 100% sure of the one thing that you have...
Lost In Translation
Have you seen the South Korean movie Parasite that took the world by storm last year, in 2019? Or the German Sci-fi Drama Dark this year (or was it in 1987?) Why go overseas, did you enjoy Baahubali? There’s a certain "flavour" in listening to Baahubali yell a fury in...