Field Stories

These stories bring out the real-life narratives, moments, and experiences, highlighting the stories and voices of the communities our fellows work with

A Heart-Wrenching Tale Of A 13-Year Old Mother In Rural India

A Heart-Wrenching Tale Of A 13-Year Old Mother In Rural India

It was 11:30 PM when I received a call from Reema’s* mother-in-law. They belong to one of the villages in Panna, Madhya Pradesh where Project Koshika runs a health intervention. Reema complained of severe stomach ache, nausea and fever. I pulled out my notes to see...

Why 50 kgs On A Weighing Scale Comes As A Surprise To Me

Why 50 kgs On A Weighing Scale Comes As A Surprise To Me

Malnutrition as a term never occurred in my conversations before I started working with Project Koshika in Panna, Madhya Pradesh.It has become a reoccurring word in my dictionary now. Koshika runs a maternal and infant health intervention in 10 remote villages of...

A Closer Look Of Majholi, Panna : My First Rural Immersion

Rural immersions make for an important part of the fellowship journey. I remember during induction, we were divided into teams of five and were asked to go to villages in and around Udaipur, everyday for three days. On Day 1 the instructions provided to us were, "Do...

My Definition Of Empowerment : The Inspiring Story Of Meenakshi Tai

My Definition Of Empowerment : The Inspiring Story Of Meenakshi Tai

A couple of months back, we had such an online session* on Empowerment by Sushma Iyengar, founder of Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Gujarat. I was excited about it, one because it was by such an inspiring leader and two, because of the topic. The term, empowerment, is...

Mera Ghar Kahan Hai? Asks A Domestic Violence Warrior

Mera Ghar Kahan Hai? Asks A Domestic Violence Warrior

The world in front of her eyes came crumbling down with the news of her wedding being fixed. She ran to her grandpa with millions of questions in her eyes and shouted at him. But, grandpa did not utter a word. His silence was enough to tell that her fate had been...

The Rituals Of (Dis)possession

The Rituals Of (Dis)possession

Goddess Kishori's temple in Khamri, where the ritual of bandhej takes place Kashi* starts to speak, however from a distance, because bandhej forbids her to stay in close proximity with women. She is one of the many women in the Bundelkhand region, to go through the...

Doing “Dirty Work”: The Midwives Of Rural Bihar Come Clean

Doing “Dirty Work”: The Midwives Of Rural Bihar Come Clean

Cleanliness is also a big facet of the work of midwives. An essential component to understanding their responsibilities is caste. This is a representational image. “Who will I teach? They all tell me, ‘Who will do this hellish work? It is dirty and I feel...

The Decaying Roots Of Tradition

The Decaying Roots Of Tradition

After coming to Odisha, I was invited for a wedding for the first time in a tribal village. I decided to go for it. Outside Kerala, I have only seen north Indian weddings, that too only in movies. This was going to be a completely different experience. The venue was...

Mandav Utsav 2021 : What People Had To Say

Mandav Utsav 2021 : What People Had To Say

This article is a critical appraisal of what I saw and heard when I visited Mandav for their yearly festival. All views shared are my observations from the conversations I had with the locals of Mandav,

Family Planning And Contraceptives In Rural Rajasthan

Family Planning And Contraceptives In Rural Rajasthan

After having a long discussion on the different types of contraceptive measures and advantages of having a small family, Sita* didn’t look satisfied. She turned to me and said, “Everything is on us. From taking care of the house, growing children inside us, raising...