Insights

In their immersive journey of experiencing the grassroots, fellows share the challenges and discoveries made, and how it connects to a larger perspective to build insights

Lessons From a Temporary Illness : Looking Through a Glass

The last quarter of 2017 has been quite weird. I’ve been privy to something remarkably out of my comfort zone, and in turn, have put many people out of theirs. But, that's a debate for the more refined minds. India Fellow is like that freaky mirror in Lewis Carrol’s...

What Is Demographic Dividend And How It’s Related To Education

By 2020, India is set to become the world’s youngest country with 64% of its population in the working age group.[1] This demographic advantage can be translated into more production of goods and increased services, thus improving the overall GDP growth rate, a...

Why Farmers Are Growing Cotton When Water Is Scarce

“I wish they'd had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days. A whole lot of things would've been straightened out.” -Jimi Hendrix, 1970 YES, if the ‘whole lot of things’ were farmers wanting to form a band but a NO if it were racial conflicts and...

When Gender and Disability Discriminate Together

“What do you see yourself doing in 10 years from now?” This is one of the questions that I have asked repeatedly over the last two months, from disabled people I work with. I wonder if I have an answer to it but that's a story for another day. Each time, I ask this...

Victim Blaming – A Popular Culture In The Nation

“Bachchi ki samajhdaari ko bhi main thoda sa kehna chahti hun…saari bachiyon ko...ki already jab koi teen aadmi baithe hue hain uske andar…to aapko usme baithna nahi chahiye tha…I am saying this to protect the girls”, Kher was quoted as saying at the press conference....

What I Saw In Public Schools In Odisha

It was a bright day at a village in Odisha. At 9:30AM, I was going to facilitate a full day session about Malaria at the government high school which has a total strength of 160 students from 1st to 10th grades. The unique aspect of this school was that, on a typical...

The Times Of Non-Linearity

I don't think cat videos represent the funniest aspects of the internet. Let's be honest here. It has more to do with how seamlessly you can transition from Donald Trump to Donald Duck and watch two whole episodes of Uncle Scrooge before you ask yourself, "what am I...

Living In The Dark With Pedophilia

There was this one video of a man sodomizing a doll in a shopping mall surfacing for quite a sometime on social media. It was no surprise that people were going gaga over him. "Men can’t even leave dolls alone now" "Even dolls are not safe" With a preconceived and...

Poverty : My 1st Lesson In The Social Sector

How long has it been since you had your last meal? 17 hours for me, out of which 13 went by sleeping in an air-conditioned compartment of a train. My head is aching and I’m sipping water slowly but here’s why I’m tolerating hunger: Can’t leave the luggage unattended...

Of Disturbing Instances, Gender Disparities And Taking Charge

It was just another day in one of the villages of South Madhya Pradesh. A colleague and I were passing through the half-broken muddy roads, to reach our destination. As part of our project, the agenda was to talk to women collectively and motivate them to save a...

Freedom Of Expression – The Oxymoron

Freedom Of Expression – The Oxymoron

The idea of “Freedom of Expression” sounds so much like an oxymoron to me these days. Two contrasting ideas nestled together so beautifully. Apparently the term freedom and expression do hardly ever go together. At least in the current context of our society. The...

Deconstructing Dating Amidst A Deity

Deconstructing Dating Amidst A Deity

It’s been a month since I’ve started working in the rural areas of Bihar and my new buddies here are very eager to set me up on a date with their friends. “Dishooja Ji, meri ek dost hai. Baayis saal ki ho gayi hai, aur shadi ki umr bhi hai. Dilli ke bank mein naukri...

स्केल कैसे होगा?

स्केल कैसे होगा?

स्केल कैसे करेंगे? इस विषय में उचित सवाल है कि क्या तरीका पहले चल रहे TB प्रोग्राम जैसा होगा या अनुभव वाले साथी जाके नया वार्ड शुरू करें या कुछ और? दो वार्डों में पायलट की समाप्ति के बाद संस्था के कार्य के दायरे को बढ़ाना स्वाभाविक मोड़ है। साथ ही, हमने ट्रस्ट को जो...

Humanising Users Of Healthcare

Humanising Users Of Healthcare

A paid internship right out of the college—even though underpaid and compulsory and obligatory—is a perfect opportunity to assimilate the four and a half years of knowledge and finally rub one’s hands clean enough to be granted a chance to suture that open wound. That...