Dialogue And Democracy: Understanding Theatre Of The Oppressed

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

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,...

Education And Internet

Education And Internet

While assisting a class 10 child studying in an IB School, I learned that his school does not have textbooks. Notebooks are used only for Science, Maths, and Art. Kids carry iPads/Laptops and mobile phones to school. Free wifi is provided. Students borrow type-C and...

Ek Garam Chai Ki Pyaali Ho

Ek Garam Chai Ki Pyaali Ho

As a part of India Fellow, we are meant to fundraise for the activities and learnings of the cohort. It is to take ownership as an equal stakeholder and to also pick up fundraising as an essential skill set in the development sector. Here, I write about a story from 5...

Is Environment A Labour Issue?

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,...

The Bus Ride To Empowerment

The Bus Ride To Empowerment

As a fellow, a part of my work at WISE is to build the entrepreneurial collective of women weavers. Among other things, this entails investing my efforts in a network that can be leveraged for market generation. One of the ways of achieving this is to facilitate...

Kumbhars Of Bangalore, Off The Wheel

Kumbhars Of Bangalore, Off The Wheel

When you taste Chai in a Kulhad, you are deluged by the smell of the earthen pot. As a bit of the tea soaks into the clay, the interaction of both the flavours becomes heavenly. Chai in Kulhad is always special to me! Over a cup of tea, my friend and I started our...

Failing And Moving From Making Agriculture Work For Rural Youth

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...

Leisure And Entertainment In The Villages Of Himachal Pradesh

Leisure And Entertainment In The Villages Of Himachal Pradesh

बाड़ी का मतलब होता है घर, और ये है कंडबाड़ी। पालमपुर की हरी वादियों में बसा एक गाँव, जहां फूलों से टकराके महकती है हवा। जहां चाय के बाग़ानों से घिरे हुए, आप दूर खड़ी धौलाधार की चोटियों को निहारते रह जाते हो। जहां कब सूरज निकलेगा और कब होगी बारिश, इसकी खबर किसी को...

मेरे गांव को आशा दीदी की आस है

बात​ मझोली गांव की है। पन्ना, मध्य प्रदेश की तहसील मुख्यालय अमानगंज से करीब 15 से 20 किलोमीटर की दूरी पर बसा हुआ है यह गांव। यह पन्ना जिले में स्थापित टाइगर रिज़र्व के अन्तर्गत आता है। आज तक इस गांव में आशा कार्यकर्ता की नियक्ति नहीं हुई है, जिस वजह से यहाँ के लोगो को...

We Couldn’t Take Our Masks Off, We Couldn’t Drink Water

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?

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...

Ghost Towns Of Banswara, Rajasthan

Ghost Towns Of Banswara, Rajasthan

Migration for work is etched into the identity of several districts that fall within the perimeter of Southern Rajasthan's tribal belt. Hundreds of private buses ply each day, carrying thousands across borders to cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Mumbai. A range of...