In Desia, a local language used in Odisha, Halia means people who work under...
Many Cures For The Same Disease
Access to healthcare is a necessity to all communities. However, the...
The Hiring And Firing!
I have now spent about a month with my host organization in Indore. During...
Dream For One And Curse For The Other: The Dark Side Of Auto Manufacturers In India
Who doesn’t dream of buying a car? Or a two-wheeler? It’s a matter of comfort...
Whom Do We Serve?: Making A Tough Choice For The Organization’s Ethos
When I first got to know about being placed at Shram Sarathi for my fellowship...
Socialising At Clinics: How ‘Beemari’ And ‘Dawai’ Became My Go-To Conversation Starters
It has been almost a month since I joined Basic healthcare services (BHS) in...
A Model Sarpanch And Red Bindis
“Where do women and girls want to go and what do they want?” Until the day I...
Contemplating Child-centric Education In Rural Ranthambore
Travelling from New Delhi, I was welcomed to Gramin Shiksha Kendra (GSK)...
Towards A Peaceful Revolution To Bring Dignity to Labor Migration
Featured image courtesy Pixabay My fellowship with Aajeevika Bureau started on March, 2019. It was the time when the financial year was soon to be over. Once I joined, I immersed myself into field visits and my journey as a fellow was 'on'. I was meeting migrants...
Aladdin Ka CHIRAG…?
What strikes your mind when you hear the word CHIRAG? My internal dictionary prompts: “Aladdin ka CHIRAG” and goes on to remind me the well-known phrase, “Hukum mere Aaka” from the cartoon series, 'Aladdin', one of my childhood memories that I am sure of carrying...
Taniya Parveen: A Journey of Hope and Aspirations
"You need to step out to know the world outside" - Taniya From Saradhi, Bangalwa village in Munger district of Bihar, where most girls are forced to stay at home and are valued with respect to their ability to do the household chores; a young girl Taniya Praveen is...
The Spirit Of Jodie At Waste Warriors
A few years ago, a British girl cleaning up the touristy areas in Mcleodganj became a roaring sensation for people over there. Popular by the name of ‘Garbage Girl’, she could be easily found collecting litter from here and there, in the mountains. In a short span of...
“हम सब एक हैं” : We All Are One!
As an India Fellow, I got the opportunity to learn closely from women, who are actively working towards empowerment and livelihood at Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Cooperative Federation Limited, Ahmedabad. The central theme of the organization is to provide social...
Legal Jankars: The Cascade Of Rural Righteousness
I was in Kolkata for the last five months. After completing my post-graduation in Pondicherry, I had headed home to prepare for government job exams. But somehow I was unable to concentrate on my studies and was tired of 19 years of an ‘ivory tower’ education format....
An Unknown Sight Of Tomorrow
Sitting in the shade of inseparable Chikoo trees, the sunlight peeped from spaces transforming the ground into kaleidoscopic patterns. I hear distant voices lost in the serenity of this place. The wind hushed a melody of embracing leaves. On a quiet corner, stood the...
Purushwadi : A Model For Smart Village
Nearly, 70% of the Indian population resides in villages, which implies that rural India accommodate most of the human capital of our country. On 11th October 2014, on the birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Sansad...
Teaching Was Not What I Chose To Do
During the India Fellow assessment meeting, I was asked about my thematic interest in the social development field. I was sure of what I didn’t want to be in - gender and children related work. And here I am, facilitating upper primary children in my host...
A Man Who Is Empowering Rural Youth In Uttarakhand
"I am only one, but still I am one, I cannot do everything, but still I can do something and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." - Edward Everett Hale I read it on the Whatsapp display of Dhiraj. Nine months ago, I had...
The Thinking Lab At Tamarind Tree
It's a 7-member team in the thinking lab. They are experimenting on an alternate model in pre-primary and upper-primary education. They believe that the learning outcome from the current education model is quite abstract without any concrete skills that can be of help...
Mil Kar Elaan: Milaan Foundation
“To create a world full of opportunities to fulfill a million dreams,” reads the vision of Milaan Fondation, the social development organization that I am currently working with. The founders believe that there is a need to educate, enable and empower children,...
Financial Literacy and Empowerment
When I first heard about Mann Deshi, the NGO I’d been assigned to work with, as an India Fellow , I was excited to have gotten a chance to work with an organisation that's known for its work on financial inclusion. Mann Deshi had started out when Chetna Gala Sinha,...
अवसर + प्रशिक्षण = तरक्की
अभी कुछ समय पहले ही मैंने एक पुस्तक पढ़ना प्रारंभ किया है, उस पुस्तक के पहले अध्याय के पहले पृष्ठ पर मार्क ट्वाइन की निम्नलिखित पंक्तियां लिखी हुई थी, "Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others" इन पंक्तियों को पढ़ने के बाद...