Musing

Fellows share their reflections, thoughts, expressions,musing and introspection from their own journeys while exploring the intersections and complexities on the ground

Understanding The Complexitites Of Labelling

Understanding The Complexitites Of Labelling

In a recent group conversation, a colleague lightheartedly asked something along the lines of, “How talkative do you think Adya is?” The other colleague responded with, “Yeh toh expert hai (She is an expert)”.  And I dreaded what I thought would follow next. Because...

RRR And India Fellow Social Leadership Program

RRR And India Fellow Social Leadership Program

Well, it’s not the Golden Globe award-winning song from the movie RRR that I am talking about here. It is my take on India Fellow Social Leadership Program. And how it is Refreshing, Reassuring, and Radiant (RRR) for me. Happiness, however, is a personal experience,...

Reflecting Through Rituals And Relationships

Reflecting Through Rituals And Relationships

Living and working in Maheshwar feels like building a small world of my own. Sculpting and chiseling away, without any care for the world. Taking a pause every once in a while when I get on a call or travel outside this place. The journey as an India Fellow has been...

Sketchy Notes From The Lanes Of Bhuj City

Sketchy Notes From The Lanes Of Bhuj City

The following blog has been co-written by co-fellows Daraab Saleem Abbasi and Sourav Roy, from India Fellow 2022 cohort. For a few months now we had been wondering what life in an odd town like Bhuj looks like, after lights out. The shops start shutting by 8 PM....

Winters Of Bihar [A Poem]

Winters Of Bihar [A Poem]

Seasons are poetic by their very nature. They try to tell us something about what they do, what they bring, and what they take away. The shedding leaves remind me of emptying ourselves before blossoming into wholeness again. They speak of revival. This year's winter...

8 Things To Keep In Mind While Preparing For A Village Meeting

8 Things To Keep In Mind While Preparing For A Village Meeting

It's been almost 18 months since I started identifying myself as an India Fellow. It's been 18 exciting months of having to do something that I have never done before. And putting myself in roles that would have otherwise made me nervous. I can't help but look back at...

Beyond The Butterfly Swords : An Illustration

Beyond The Butterfly Swords : An Illustration

'Beyond the butterfly swords' is an illustration made to represent and express lesbian relationships. I work with Aajeevika Bureau in the Banswara district to nurture women’s collectives in the region. I decided to make a strong but simple and...

Image Of A Working Woman

Image Of A Working Woman

I am a 22-year-old woman who has very recently entered the world of work. My mother was 21 when she quit her job as a school teacher when she conceived me. Post-childbirth there were various times when she considered getting back to work but the decision never...

Half Half None

Half Half None

The following blog has been co-written by co-fellows Daraab Saleem Abbasi and Sourav Roy, from India Fellow 2022 cohort. An old apartment building like many others that you will find in this city. A parking lot in the stilts of the ground floor and narrow staircases...

How I Came To Believe In The Wonders Of A Smile

How I Came To Believe In The Wonders Of A Smile

I frequently discover myself being mesmerized by happy faces. 7,000 different languages are spoken throughout the world. But there is one thing we can use to connect with everybody, regardless of a language - a smile! In fact, it is one of the first expressions we...

Going Back To, Through Sundays

Going Back To, Through Sundays

After two years of not knowing what day is what, Sunday now has some significance. I say ‘two years’ without mentioning the C word because I do not want to read it in the beginning of yet another narrative. It’s inescapable because of how passive we have had to be in...

My Small Win With Chai Shots

My Small Win With Chai Shots

At MANAVLOK, the organization I am a part of as an India Fellow, the entire team comes together for a weekly meeting every Monday at 10 AM sharp. Members from all the sub-centers, teachers from our social work college, karyakartas from Manavlok’s women's wing...

Viel, No Viel: Why Hate?

Viel, No Viel: Why Hate?

A Malayalee growing up in Gujarat has certain perks. Locals do not understand your name, culture, or slang and you can get out of awkward situations - mostly by lying yes. Then the unthinkable (for me definitely) happened, and I shifted back to the place that is...

Exploring Relationship With Religion

Exploring Relationship With Religion

I am not a religious person. However, by virtue of growing up in a religious society, I've always practiced Christianity as a way of life. Church and community have played a major role in shaping my mental models, beliefs, and aspirations. All throughout childhood, I...