Post the earthquake of 2001, Kutch has seen rapid industrialisation and...
Social Challenges Faced By A Female Patient Suffering From Tuberculosis
I was scared that if my husband or my mother-in-law would get to know that I...
Inked In Tradition: The Tattoos Of Bind Community
People in India have been using permanent tattoos on the skin for more than a...
From Meadows To Markets: The Van Gujjars’ Milk Routes in The Himalayas
Van Gujjars are a community located in the northern part of India, along the...
Forty Minutes Of A Monday Morning At A School In Bhuj
Waking up by 7:00 AM is my definition of waking up early. The morning follows...
A Year In The Gojri Calendar
Winters are here and at the start of December, all the colorful kambals...
The Art Of Spinning : My First-Time Experience
It's a flower. A flower unlike anything you and I have ever seen. Within it...
भोपा और गाड़िया लोहार समुदाय
भोपा समुदाय भोपा समुदाय राजस्थान भारत में लोक देवताओं का गायन करने वाला एक...
![Of Clay And Mirrors [A Visual Story]](https://indiafellow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Banner-scaled-1.jpg)
Of Clay And Mirrors [A Visual Story]
When Argaben begins pinching and shaping the clay dough, she's not doing so to put on a show. Yet, when she breathes life into the otherwise lifeless lump of clay, shaping different patterns and designs, we all watch in awe. The freehand work from memory. The fluidity...
Ghost Towns Of Banswara, Rajasthan
Migration for work is etched into the identity of several districts that fall within the perimeter of Southern Rajasthan's tribal belt. Hundreds of private buses ply each day, carrying thousands across borders to cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Mumbai. A range of...
What It Means To Work With A Community
We were in Sillet, an isolated village that has no electricity, no telecom signal and no water. We had heard that the people from this village had a problem with us - Swasthya Swaraj. It had something to do with a small facility that we were trying to set up in the...
Sorry Harry, But It’s Time We Talk About The Potters Of Khavda
In the Harry Potter universe, magic is the heart and soul of the wizarding culture. It sets the wizards and the witches apart from their Muggle neighbours. While Ismailbhai Kumbhar, may pass off as a Muggle, in this context, he doesn't need an Albus Dumbledore or a...
On Gender And Local Governance
As someone who chose to immerse herself into a fellowship program, straight after attending an all-women’s college, the transition to truly accepting the fact that “Change is slow” is still underway. While attending meetings, trainings and interacting with Local...
What Motivates Us?
Not everyone decides to work with organisations that attend to particularly vulnerable tribal groups in highly inaccessible areas, but for those who do, what drives them? What is their sense of purpose? Of meaning in work? Working with Swasthya Swaraj at Kalahandi,...
“Jo Mila Wo Kha Lega Hum”
There is only one SBI branch in Kashipur, and just to get into it, one needs to wait for an hour. Once you get in, it might take an hour or more to get the work done. Wednesdays are worse due to the weekly market. People travel from 5-25 km away to come to the market,...
Why Mansukhbhai Is “Not Okay” With Being Bela’s Last Hand Block Printer
Mansukh Pitambar Khatri looks painfully scrawny and impossibly gnarled, as he bends over a long table spread with a beige cloth. He certainly looks suited to his trade, as he continues to work, oblivious to the heat, using astonishing muscle memory while printing a...
Empowering The Hinterlands During A Worldwide Pandemic
As a part of my field visits to various Panchayats around Kutch, I got to understand the way local administration chose to deal with the pandemic. This process helped me to build knowledge about the steps taken to control the spread of pandemic at the policy level, in...
How The Khatris Are Bringing Josh To Rogan
Mohmad Hanif Arab Khatri comfortably seats himself on the floor. Stretched out before him is a piece of blue cloth, pinned on either side to the legs of a low-length table. Reaching for his dibbi, he pulls out a stylus and a blob of a thick brownish gelatinous...
Of Young Girls And Big Responsibilities
"Their mother ran away with her lover, leaving these girls behind”. I looked around to see the girls who were being talked about. The oldest of them looked at me and smiled as the younger ones held on to her tightly. I went up to them and out of habit, asked their...
Braving The Pandemic As A Child In Villages Of Ranthambore
In an attempt to enhance access to education in some of the most marginalized and neglected parts of rural Ranthambore, Gramin Shiksha Kendra (GSK) runs three schools - in Jaganpura, Girirajpura and Fariya, villages in the catchment area of Sawai Madhopur. GSK's...
How Shakil Bhai is Printing a Different Story, One Block at a Time
It's dirty, noisy and crowded. There's wastewater flowing in from one side. Cows and dogs are picking through piles of garbage, hunting for leftovers. There's an unpleasant stench wafting in the air. It isn't the most welcoming sight to witness, not...
Youth Leadership In Rural Chhattisgarh
Before 2020 could end, we (Nikita D'cruz and I) got to meet a group of 25 local people from the villages of Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh. If you aren’t familiar with the region, it’s one of those towns that aren’t known to many, and have to be referred to, with a...