Cup Se Cup Tak

Cup Se Cup Tak

Does this image bother you? Well, you’re not alone. Over 16 years and 200 frustrating menstrual cycles later, I am finally learning to embrace periods. Two years of dilemma of switching over to menstrual cups or biodegradable pads finally came to an end after I moved...

Development At The Cost Of Environment

Development At The Cost Of Environment

One Saturday, I was returning from school with Pratap, a colleague who was telling me about an interactive session on ‘Open Schooling’ which was going to happen in Dantewada the same evening. I was curious about it and excited to attended the session. Dantewada is...

A Hard-To-Forget Conversation With A Woman

A Hard-To-Forget Conversation With A Woman

Two years since, I still can't forget her face. She was wearing a plain Olive Green sari. We were sitting together in a dimly lit medium-sized room built of bricks, in a village near Sant Kabir Nagar (originally Khalilabad), Uttar Pradesh. It was late into the...

A Lesson I Learnt When Teaching My Students

A Lesson I Learnt When Teaching My Students

Being part of an education innovation which aims at changing attitude through change in content delivery. At Aavishkaar I see the social sector expanding to introduce an intellectual attitude as one of the human rights to protest for. I go to classrooms every week to...

Two Women Who Broke The Glass Ceiling In Dalsighsarai, Bihar

My stint in Dalsinghsarai, Bihar has made me stumble upon numerous striking stories. Some were positive, some negative and others inspiring. Amongst them all, the stories of these two women - Kumkum Devi and Mona Kumari have been intriguing and have stayed with me....

In Search Of Hidma

Image clicked by Sandesh (blog author) in one of his field outings in Sukma, Chattisgarh, where he is placed as a fellow with Shiksharth, a non-profit working towards education amongst tribal children. “It’s been many days now! When will he come? Can someone please...

The Unsung Battles Of Ordinary Women

The ongoing wave of feminism seems to have taken India by storm, but has it managed to hit all the right spots yet? Indian feminism has lately drawn strong critique for being exclusionary in nature and I found my own thoughts deeply resonating with this narrative in...

Gun License, Hindu Identity: In Conversation With Locals Of Sitapur

While talking with people over snacks, there is so much that I learn about this place and its surrounding areas. The topic of gun license came up when I was interacting with parents of a girl, whom I teach in a school here at Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh (UP). It...

Goats And Nine Yards Of Blue

Across Munger district of Bihar, women dressed in sky blue saris are disrupting the community’s perception of their ability to improve the lives of poor. With help from a Goat Resource Center (GRC), a small establishment by the roadside that serves as an office and...

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...

The Last Time When I Did Things For The First Time

Most of us these days, including me, wish for adventure and excitement in our daily routine. I did it every single day while sitting in my AC cubicle; wishing an escape from the mundane life. Today, leaving that behind, I'm working with Basic Healthcare Services...

My Story With PERIODS As A Male Staff

Image: Doing sessions and discussions with adolescent girls on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management I am working in a community radio station - Nityananda Janavani 91.2 FM in Purulia, West Bengal. Our radio station was already making programs on lots of issues...

About A Windy Night in Jiri

When time was closing in for Durov, after a long arduous journey, on the evening of 18th day of June, he sat down and imagined the day when his fate was declared. He could not refrain himself from thinking of that evening, which was still clear in his head. The first...

सामुदायिक रेडियो सिर्फ रेडियो नहीं बल्कि लोगों की एकीकृत आवाज़ है

मैं पुरुलिआ, पश्चिम बंगाल के एक छोटे से गाँव में स्थित सामुदायिक रेडियो स्टेशन में काम करता हूँ | मुझसे बहुत सारे लोगों ने यह प्रश्न किया है कि सामुदायिक रेडियो स्टेशन क्या होता है | रेड एफ.एम, रेडियो मिर्ची और आकाशवाणी तो सुना है किन्तु यह सामुदायिक रेडियो स्टेशन...