Musing

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

Lost In Translation

Have you seen the South Korean movie Parasite that took the world by storm last year, in 2019? Or the German Sci-fi Drama Dark this year (or was it in 1987?) Why go overseas, did you enjoy Baahubali? There’s a certain "flavour" in listening to Baahubali yell a fury in...

The First Quarter Of My Fellowship Journey

The First Quarter Of My Fellowship Journey

It has been three months in my field area and so far the journey has been horribly good. Do you remember The Storyteller by HH Munro Saki? Just like how the bachelor uses these two words together to describe the character of his story, I am using these words...

The Consequence Of Accumulated Experience

The Consequence Of Accumulated Experience

If you have a few strands of grey hair on your head, then you may not like a wild idea coming your way. Or perhaps a new solution to the old problem, definitely not the old solution to the old problem. This has little to do with the idea or the solution. It is what I...

The Dark Night(s)

The Dark Night(s)

6 PM As a new chapter began on a partly chilly October night,With a friend by my side,I embarked on a journey,Thought to myself that I’ve finally taken flight. This year I am to do something new,From a bird's eye view,I am to scour through the land, Sometimes finding...

Chunri Ke Peeche

Chunri Ke Peeche

Start a social enterprise Have otherwise formally unemployed women in Rajasthan make dupattas. Have women in Rajasthan make dupattas, count the sweat that falls from their chins, and add it to the GDP. Count sweat by the sound it makes when hitting the ground and...

सफ़र अपना सा!

सफ़र अपना सा!

कुछ हुआ तो ज़रूर है, पर वह कहीं गुम सा है होश संभल तो रहा है, पर कहीं गुम सा है| काबीलियत विलुप्त तो नहीं है, पर गुम सी है मैं चल तो रही हूँ, पर गुम सी हूँ || कुछ यूँ शुरू हुआ था एक सफ़र, एक लम्हा जिसके आज नौ महीने गुज़र जाने का एहसास कुछ मायूस सा कर देता है| शायद इस सफ़र...

Surname, Please?

Surname, Please?

The train journey to Mangaon had worn me out. I had woken up at 5 am today, a record timing by my standards. Adding to this, the speaker on stage had been speaking in Marathi for the past twenty minutes. Due to these specific factors, my eyes steadily shut. Father...

15 Girls And A 40 Hour Journey From Himachal Pradesh To Bihar

15 Girls And A 40 Hour Journey From Himachal Pradesh To Bihar

When we started writing India Fellow blogs, we were told how our stories were all unique, however common they may seem. We were told that no one would be able to represent our story and the moments in our journey the way we could. Today, as I board Himgiri Express...

मैं और भालू

प्रिय मित्र काशीपुर से में भोपाल के लिए रवाना हो गया हूं। वही पुराना घर! अब तो घर क्या है कहां है इसकी समझ कमजोर पड़ गई है। खुले आसमान ने हमें इतना अपना लिया है कि दीवारें पराई लगने लगी है। यह तीसरा और आखिरी खत काशीपुर के सबसे अप्रतिम भाग के बारे में है। यह ना होता तो...

An Atta-boy

An Atta-boy

They do not have advantage of a complicated system of metaphysics which could explain or rationalize  events for them. Their gods and goodness are much too simple to be of much help. प्रिय मित्र याद है वो पुराना किस्सा? वो काशीपुर? खत के बदलो से सतह दर सतह उतरोगे तो...

काशीपुर से ख़त

प्रिय मित्र, कभी रोमांटिसिज्म के बारे में सुना है? कहीं उन्नीस्वीं सदी में इस टर्म को पहली बार इस्तेमाल किया गया होगा| पहले भी होता होगा पर उन्नीस्वी सदी के बाद इसने गति पकड़ ली| ये एक जादुई पर्दे की तरह है जो न होता तो हिन्दी सिनेमा कब का ठंडा गोश्त बन गया होता| असल...

Himachali Langar: The Unforgettable Feast

On my first day in the village of Kandbari, where I've now spent more than 4 months, it felt like I was dropped down from a soaring height. Yeah, metaphorically! The fall where you hear nothing, feel nothing or see nothing but get an adrenaline rush. Like anyone else,...