Being Human

Being Human

I have always wondered about what makes a human “human”. Is it their high...

A Scholar On Three Wheels

A Scholar On Three Wheels

As a part of our rural immersion at India Fellow, my teammates and I visited a village called Jiswal*, 20 km away from Udaipur, Rajasthan. Being the group leader, I was responsible for managing the commute and food expenses of our team for 4 days in the field....

Redefining My Idea Of A Village

My father grew up in a village named Purana in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. My grandmother, whom I fondly call bou (mother, in Odia) still lives there. As a child, I visited and stayed there during summer and winter vacations. However, most of my ideas about the...

Last Mile Delivery of Products & Services

As a part of training program at India fellow, I got an opportunity to visit the rural parts of Udaipur. The visit was intended merely for observing people and surroundings. Madar - the history of this village is older than the foundation of Udaipur itself. It was a...

Looking Back and Ahead – From Mizoram To Rajasthan

Having spent my early childhood in a small village of Kamalanagar in Chawngte, Mizoram and living half of my 26 years in different cities of India, I have been fortunate enough to experience different flavors of life. This post is about an experience from Madar...

Life, And The Patterns in Which it Unfolds

Today, I have a little too much of motivation to wake up, dress up, show up in the foyer and hit the road ASAP! "Why? What's the reason for this adrenaline rush?", I asked myself... It’s the rural immersion, something that I’ve faintly heard of, but was highly...

Plato And Cave – Valuable Lessons From The Allegory

In The Republic by Plato, he analyses a story of a group of people born and brought up in a dark cave without any connection with the outside world. The "Cave Allegory", as it is called, gets interesting when one among them finds out about the truth of their existence...

We Need A Balance In Stories About Indian Villages

A single story is one where the same thing gets told over and over again about a people or a place we do not know first-hand. The danger? It leads to stereotypes, to half-truths, not the truth. Our lives and cultures are composed of many overlapping stories. A single...

Not My Cup Of Chai

“One’s destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller An early morning bus from Udaipur to Gogunda made up for a good start. Gogunda is a small town and a major hub for surrounding villages in Udaipur. It is well connected via buses and...

माटी से निकटतम या रोटी से

भारत की ३३% जनसंख्या की तरह मैं भी एक शहरी नागरिक हूँ. अपने २५ वर्षों के जीवन में से २५ दिन भी मैंने किसी ग्रामीण क्षेत्र में नही बिताये. राजस्थान के किसी गाँव को मैं उतना ही जानती थी जितना “बालिका वधु” या “सरफ़रोश” ने मुझे बताया. हालाँकि, वहां के पर्यटक स्थलों से मैं...

An Encounter With “What’s Your Caste?”

One of the things I was looking forward to, when I applied for India Fellow, was the possibility of working with a grassroot organisation at rural level. As much as it sounded adventurous, there was an irrational fear in me that made me question my decision everyday....

Of People And Places

Ever had the feeling where you were kicking yourself for leaving the good life behind? From being a reasonably well-off graduate student in Toronto, enjoying first-world comforts, to being completely drenched and hanging on for dear life, on the roof of an overcrowded...