I opened the door of our Drop-in Centre and found a short-statured dusky...
Working With Minimum Resources, With Those Who Have Nothing
Picture by Mahir Bhatt, a 2017 fellow Trigger Warning: This is a case of...
Of Windmills And Women
“I ask you to leave your home, the clothes you wear, the family you love, and...
Of Partition, Earthquake And Community Festivals: How Kharad Artisans Double Up As Storytellers
“You are looking at a handmade, natural-dyed Kharad painstakingly made by my...
‘Postnatal Care’ In Rural, Tribal Villages Of Southern Rajasthan
Ramila* is a 22 year old woman who lives in Hathiya Talai, a village in...
![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...
Ghost Towns Of Banswara, Rajasthan
Migration for work is etched into the identity of several districts that fall...
What It Means To Work With A Community
We were in Sillet, an isolated village that has no electricity, no telecom...
Vegetable Cultivation by Katkari Tribe in Rural Maharashtra
Ratna Tai* walked ahead, leading a coterie of her fellow villagers to the farming lands where they planned to grow Kareli (Bitter gourd). She walked briskly while we struggled to catch up with her pace, jumping over thickets and bushes, ducking wild branches and...
Bail Pola: A Way of Celebrating Human-Animal Relationship
Nature is considered a reflection of truth in the holy book of Quran. Hindu scriptures also emphasize on divinity contained in the elements of nature - Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. Religious books, the predominant source of values in any culture, recognize the...
Healthcare – A Privilege for HER?
Tribal women of Udaipur District, Rajasthan How do you react when a father-in-law says about his Bahu (daughter-in-law), “Aap mujhe isko bade asptaal le jane kyun bol rahe ho? Yeh mar gayi toh mai isko jala dunga, woh meri zimmedari hai.” (Why are you asking me to...
An Introduction To Katkari Tribes Of Maharashtra
Katkaris working at brick kilns As part of my assignment I’ve been working for scoping and initiating new livelihoods for the Katkari tribal community in Raigad under the aegis of my organization - Centre For Social Action, Mumbai. I joined CSA in August this year and...
From Durga to ‘Hudur Durga’: The Other Side Of The Story
Durga puja – the name is more than sufficient to bring joy and thrill among Bengalis. Durga Puja is not only a festival in West Bengal but it is an integral part of life for the people living here. You can sense the enthusiasm, the charisma in the air and people...
The Nights Were Dark And Full of Terror – Odisha And Education
After spending month in Kalahandi, experiencing almost all sorts of adventure, I ask myself, “Could there be anything left to see?” I have seen death as well as new life coming into this world in front of my eyes. One week I was supposed to visit a village on the...
Mass Hysteria And Opinions – Story Of Kanpur Dehat
I am writing to tell you about an incident that shook me due to the incredulous nature of the story that got fabricated around it which still confounds me as to why that girl died. A number of conjectures it generated in order to piece together the character and the...
The Story Of The Black Angrez Of Rajasthan
I am sure all of you, after reading the title of this post are thinking: - Who are Black Angrez? Who can be the Black Angrez? It was just a usual day when I was leaving the school I work in, for a field visit and waiting for the jeep to come. 40 minutes had already...
Domestic Violence : Pegging The Blame
What do you say when a woman you met 20 minutes back, tells you, “Maar-pitai to yahan har ghar mein hoti hai. Maine shadi ke pehle ye sab kabhi nahi dekha lekin is mohalle mein roz ka hi hai. Ab ajeeb nahi lagta, aadat pad gayi hai.” (Violence happens in every home...
How Useful Is A Health Insurance Scheme In India?
Travel (home to block hospital) - Rs 200Medicine - Rs 300Travel (block hospital to private clinic) - Rs 100Medical expenses (doctor fees, caesarean delivery charges, medicines) - Rs 22,000Travel (private clinic to home) - Rs 200Total Expenditure (in 3 days) - Rs...
KHAAN : The Evolution Of A Dead Mine
A few months back I worked on a radio series called Khanabadoshon Ki Duniya (The world of migrants). It focused on breaking the narrative of internal migrants as a threat to development as portrayed by various media. The themes touched upon areas like the...
The Privilege Called Information : Of Hierarchy, Distance and Language
My world view of West Bengal was very limited. West Bengal was just Kolkota. There was no knowledge about the state beyond Durga Puja, fish curry and Tagore. It was my first time in Badwan, a block in the district of Purulia in West Bengal. The place contained 134...
Ladakh : The Land That Was!
It looked like a dream, stayed like an old friend and will be often recalled as the land where most outsiders found bliss, either in nature or in other people and a few, within themselves. Everyone knows Ladakh is heavenly, not just in the way it looks but also how it...
Barter In The Hinterlands Of Gujarat
I work with Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a legal aid organisation in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Foremost of CSJ’s vision is to create a network of legal aid centres across India. One of our centres is setup in Umarpada block of Surat district. This dainty quite block is...