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...
Reflections From The Work On Tuberculosis
I have been working for 18 months with Innovators In Health (IIH). The...
The Lack Of Access To Education For Children Of Migrant Workers In Kerala
11-year-old Habil* is engaged in an intense mobile game. Gunshots echo in his...
Visual Arts As A Way To Connect Children To The Library
I have a feeling that my relationship with art has been changing since joining...
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...
What Being Restricted Taught Me About Empowerment
As I work with Shram Sarathi in Gogunda block of Udaipur, Rajasthan, if I have to talk about the most epic ways of local commute, I'll tell you this... The field areas, though accessible through public transport, still require one to navigate a few kilometres on foot,...
Is Environment A Labour Issue?
Early last month, I watched Seaspiracy, Kip Anderson's second project to shed light upon a new dimension of the human-made environmental crisis. It's a documentary film that takes the viewer into the literal and metaphorical depths of the crisis unfolding at the seas,...
Failing And Moving From Making Agriculture Work For Rural Youth
Born and brought up in Delhi, I had a fascination to get an exposure to the grassroots of India and see the rural realities in its raw form. To pursue this, I joined India Fellow, a social leadership program. As a part of that, I was placed with Shramik Bharti, an...
We Couldn’t Take Our Masks Off, We Couldn’t Drink Water
Picture from the archives of Setu Abhiyan - Urban team It is a cold December evening and the chilly wind is blowing the plastic shelter of the outside of the house, back and forth. Seated on the plastic rug fashioned from old 20kg cement bags, I make my notes under...
Those Who Fall Between The Cracks – Where Do They Go?
This lockdown was supposed to be different. Wasn’t everything planned to seem much more normal than last year? There are no heartbreaking images of migrants walking back hundreds of kilometres or those of workers stuck at inter-state bus terminals waiting to go back...
Bursting Myths And Building Trust: Reflections From Working With A Tribal Community In Rural Rajasthan
In the months of April and May 2020, when there was a nationwide lockdown, AMRIT clinics (run by Basic Healthcare Services), supported by Aajeevika Bureau were busy distributing food packets and ration in remote villages of Southern Rajasthan. Many families in this...
Aspirations Of Youth In Jamui, Rural Bihar
Introduction Young people are agents of change in a country. Youth can be termed as a “transition period while the individuals prepare themselves to become responsible and productive citizens of the country”. Different organizations define the youth age group...
The Kishori Shramik And The Labour Market
Note: This blog was first published on Feminism in India on 13th January, 2021 In the Sabla block of the Dungarpur district of Southern Rajasthan is where we met a 16 year old Manja* for the first time. Poking the ground with a stick she picked up on the way to where...
Who Are The Commons Really For?
Disclaimer: This blog is a translation of a case study written by the Urban SETU team, working with migrants and the Nagar Palika of Bhuj city in Gujarat. If you read Gujarati, you can read it here! I have only connected the idea of The Tragedy Of The Commons and...