Pulp Fiction Meets India Fellow

The legendary film-maker Jean-Luc Godard had famously said, “A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order”. Another guy called Quentin Tarantino, took it a bit too seriously. He picked a bunch of characters, a set of...

Girls Who Stepped Out For Professional Courses For The First Time

As I mentioned about intervention of mentoring cum tutoring girls for various competitive examinations in my previous blogs how I was mentoring couple of girls for various competitive entrances. In this blog, we will talk about the results and the girls who did it,...

Why The Poor Make Expensive Health Choices

Imagine you are a middle aged man living in rural India. For years now, you have seen the government health sub-center behind your home shut. When it occasionally opens, it is for a short time and seems like it is only for name sake. But when you or your...

Viewing Mental Health From A Care Giver’s Lens

The brain is a fascinating organ. While I’m writing this, I realize that the brain is narcissistic as well. If we believe that it controls all of our bodily functions, then right now, this organ is just singing its own praise. Let that sink in for a moment. Please...

Pillachor a.k.a The Child Kidnapper in Odisha

"If you are to become a professional, then this look is unacceptable." "Son, you also have to consider what others will think" "Are you a stoner?" Considering that in my family, most men adorn a shining head, I decided to cherish my hair as long as I could. "What harm...

An Evening at an Urban Slum of Kanpur

I recently got a chance to visit Shramik Bharti, an organization majorly working in urban and rural areas of Kanpur, on integrated development including micro-finance, livelihood, energy, agriculture as well as sanitation & hygiene. Co-incidentally, the day I was...

An Episode of Complete Disbelief in Bhawanipatna

While working with Swasthya Swaraj, getting back to my field area in Bhawanipatna, Odisha, after a week is always exhilarating. I feel like I've done enough and now is the time for weekend reward. Throughout the week, I work at Kerpai village. When I initially came...

About This Summer in Jalna

The Indian summer is great. It is that time of the year when we feel a stronger connection with the Himalayas. Not so much about soul-searching but to stay clear of the incomprehensible heat. I’ll gladly take a cold-storage mango in Winter, thank you! But another...

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...

Why Doctors Don’t Want To Work In Rural Areas

When I was doing my medical house surgeon-ship in Mangalore a few years ago, Karnataka government was planning to implement compulsory rural service for house surgeons in the state. This news was not taken in a positive light by the doctors which eventually led to...

We Are In A Crisis We Don’t Acknowledge

I was sitting on an uber comfortable Barcalounger with gigantic headphone over my ears. An ethereal voice was asking me to close my eyes, relax, think of something that makes me happy and form a picture of said happiness in my mind. Next thing I knew, I was being...

Friday Phenomenon In Schools : Eggs & Bananas

I believe that every problem in the universe has a cause and one or more solution(s). Before getting on to the Friday phenomenon as mentioned in the headline, I'd like to talk about the mid-day meal (MDM) program in schools. Interestingly, the history of Pondicherry...

Hallucinations To Reality: Child Sexual Abuse And Parenting

There are only a few people to whom I'm really close. One of them is a classmate I know since 6 years. We met in college and graduated together. Socially, he is extremely awkward and an introvert who is fascinated by trains. I have never met him after college. In...