Not A Single Story Of Porta Cabins

Not A Single Story Of Porta Cabins

With my children at a porta cabin in Sukma, south Chattisgarh Restriction! What comes to your mind related to restriction would be lack of freedom. A similar thought process might be applicable to children in Porta Cabins at Sukma, Chhattisgarh which is why they...

Where Collective Strength Lies

Where Collective Strength Lies

Who’d ever want to pay an interest of Rs. 1200 on a loan of merely Rs. 500? A woman from the jungle village of Tirpania in Kharagpur, Bihar did so willingly, at least for a while. Until the concept of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) found its way to rural women in Bihar,...

Aarogya: A Game To Meet The Need For Vaccination Information

Aarogya: A Game To Meet The Need For Vaccination Information

Imagine your child getting vaccinated and you are not aware of the name of the vaccine or its use. Scary, isn’t it? Well, that's the case with majority of parents in the villages of Dalsinghsarai in Samastipur, Bihar. This lack of information often fosters negligence...

A Camp For All Seasons

A Camp For All Seasons

When you work at a rapidly expanding NGO like Mann Deshi, things happen at a frenetic pace. I realised this when I got back from India Fellow's midpoint training. Even though our training days were packed with sessions and activities, it took me a few days to adjust...

A Walk Into Mukta Gyan Kutir School [A photo story]

Welcome Enthusiasts. Before we go any further and you get awestruck with innocent smiles and their uncanny stories, let’s go back 35 years in time. A group of thinkers and activists started a social institution in south Odisha, an NGO which will fight against hunger...

Radio Has a Special Place in the Heart of Rural India

“It has been 11 years but I still remember the day when my 12th grade results were to come. I was eagerly waiting since morning. Those days, we didn't have internet. Radio was the only medium. My father was a keen radio listener and I recall how he sat throughout the...

Saving The World : One Stupa At A Time

Saving The World : One Stupa At A Time

Everyone agrees the planet is getting warmer. What do we do about it? How do we adapt to it? More than two decades ago, Chewang Norphel, also known as the Ice Man of Ladakh, hit upon an ingenious idea. What if he could somehow store all the water that goes waste in...

Freedom From Congestion : The Impact Of Housing Finance

Freedom From Congestion : The Impact Of Housing Finance

He dropped out of school when he was in the seventh grade. Prakash, 34, is a diminutive young man who regrets leaving school. Nevertheless, having worked his way up, he is now a skilled worker building concrete structures. Although he was satisfied with his occupation...

Wisdom Over Intelligence

Wisdom Over Intelligence

Ladakh Before 1970 The story of education in Ladakh is intimately tied to the story of its people’s introduction to western concepts of progress and to the global marketplace. Prior to the 1970s, education in Ladakh largely took place in the village, in the fields,...