Until a few months back, when I saw parents coming in with really sick...
Ethical Conflicts Of A Non-Profit Working On Financial Inclusion
Imagine, you are standing next to train tracks and you see a train coming....
Whom Does The Forest Belong To?
All about the game of resources and identities, understanding...
Learning From Cognitive Biases And Using Them To My Advantage
As someone who has been fascinated by the mysteries of the human mind, the...
Beyond Identity: The Power of Genuine Connection
Lately, I've been thinking about my true identity and how I introduce myself...
Addressing Mental Health Challenges for Women in India
Introduction Mental health is as vital as physical health and should be...
Rehan And Patwan – A System of Mortgaging Agricultural Land
In rural India, where a significant portion of agricultural land is cultivated...
Garment Construction: An Overview
Fun Fact: The piece of apparel you are currently wearing was potentially put...
What A Kilometre Long Road In South Delhi Tells You About Social Structures
Recently, I relocated to Delhi. I was fortunate enough to have friends who were already staying in a locality called Alaknanda in south Delhi and accordingly, I moved in with them. As I was settling in, it took me just a walk down the road in front of the house to...
The Fading Smiles of ODISHA : Laws and Ignorance
While walking through various routes in Odisha, whether it be rural or urban pathways, one would truly see the gaps in development. The disparity between the development index, as compared to other states, is huge. However, there is one common thing that exists here...
Failures : What You Learn When Things Don’t Go Your Way On Field
Third part of a 3-part series on learning from failures
Failures : Integrity vs Accommodation
First of the 3 part series by our alumni on failures.
Yeh Bahut Mehenga Hai
"Why should I pay THAT MUCH when I can buy something exactly like it at _______ for half the price?!" (one may fill the blank with the name of any High Street shop) More than a century ago, English artist and activist William Morris argued that "nothing should...
You Feel disgusted? You leave!
A long line of women, carrying their babies in slings across their chests, balancing eggs and channa on their heads, is a common sight as we travel in our jeep at Swasthya Swaraj from our head office in Bhawanipatna to the villages. Children are always tied close to...
Who Bears The Brunt Of Borrowing Money?
A gender lens to understand credit in rural India Microcredit = Lending to women in groups I remember making sense of microfinance using this simple equation the first time I read about the concept of lending to the poor. Somehow, it did make a lot of sense and it...
Did Covid-19 ‘Other’ The ASHAs From Their Own?
ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) have been instrumental in managing the pandemic across the country. They carried out several responsibilities in the past year - identifying people showing symptoms of Corona, linking them to quarantine facilities or ensuring...
![One Strand At A Time [A Photo Story]](https://indiafellow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_20210906_114752-scaled-1.jpg)
One Strand At A Time [A Photo Story]
Having spent a major part of my fellowship in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, it was impossible to not showcase the art-form that makes the place so special - Maheshwari sarees. The sarees and fabrics are registered for Geographical Indication, a certification that the...
Bridging The Digital Gap In Rural India
Financial inclusion, in today's day and age is not what it was a decade or two ago, when having a bank account was the starting point. Today, 'digital' is a key piece in the puzzle of financial inclusion, specially for low income communities. India is set to have 820...
Resilience, As I Understood It
Resilience and perseverance - the two virtues almost always attributed to the poor. The glorification of their hardships and our awe for their ability to survive. Haven’t we started looking at them akin to cockroaches? They never die with a single stroke, it takes...
Education For Change
Imagine yourself as a child living in a small mud house in a green valley, with lush farms on rolling hills that extend until as far as you can see. Your family is engaged in agriculture, growing rice and corn. A good harvest ensures enough food for the next few...
Totes Amaze: How This NGO In Kutch Is Fighting Plastic With Plastic
Nine billion tons - that's the amount of plastic we have created since the large-scale production of synthetic materials began in the early 1950s. And why not, after all plastic is lightweight, flexible, relatively inexpensive, and durable, which also means that it...
Dialogue And Democracy: Understanding Theatre Of The Oppressed
Paulo Friere was a renowned Brazilian educator and philosopher. As a leading advocate of critical pedagogy that views teaching as a political act, indistinct from issues of social justice and democracy, predicated on fostering agency, empowering learners and...