इण्डिया फैलो मिड पाॅइन्ट कार्यशाला के लिए मेरा १० दिन के लिए दिल्ली जाना...
‘Character Alive’ : An Activity To Engage Children
Working at a children's library has been a journey filled with endless...
Cigarettes, Beedis And The In-Between
I grew up in Calcutta watching everyone from my father to the cobbler to the...
बदलाव और सोनी बावरी
यह कहानी राजस्थान के सवाई माधोपुर जिले में स्थित एक गांव में बावरी बस्ती...
Allegory Of The Cave: In Social Work
Plato's (an ancient Greek philosopher) Allegory of the cave is a philosophical...
Kalamaitri – A Collective Run Enterprise
In an ideal world, collectives would be catalysts for societal progress,...
Design Thinking Is A Mindset, Not Just A Skill
Design thinking is often seen as a skill exclusive to professional designers....
Dying Children And Dead Living Rooms
Until a few months back, when I saw parents coming in with really sick...
Who Are The Commons Really For?
Disclaimer: This blog is a translation of a case study written by the Urban SETU team, working with migrants and the Nagar Palika of Bhuj city in Gujarat. If you read Gujarati, you can read it here! I have only connected the idea of The Tragedy Of The Commons and...
Love Story: Return – Part 2/2
Read Part 1 here “ㅤ Zuleikha, I am here. Zulu, l have come. Zulu, please take me in. He looks weak. Dead, if I were honest. I had cut off my past, my past had cut me off. Why is he here… Zuleikha, I looked for you. Zulu, I looked for you in the whorehouses. Zulu, you...
Love Story: Escape – Part 1/2
“ It was in the summers, about 30 years from today. I was pretty like those girls in TV serials. We didn’t have much, but Abba and Ammi spared enough for all my brothers and sisters, every month. I remember going with Abba to the vegetable market. Fond memories,...
How Shakil Bhai is Printing a Different Story, One Block at a Time
It's dirty, noisy and crowded. There's wastewater flowing in from one side. Cows and dogs are picking through piles of garbage, hunting for leftovers. There's an unpleasant stench wafting in the air. It isn't the most welcoming sight to witness, not...
Youth Leadership In Rural Chhattisgarh
Before 2020 could end, we (Nikita D'cruz and I) got to meet a group of 25 local people from the villages of Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh. If you aren’t familiar with the region, it’s one of those towns that aren’t known to many, and have to be referred to, with a...
Impact Of The Lockdown On Children
“What has been the impact of the lockdown on children?” - the question popped up in the chat-box of an online webinar I was listlessly sitting through a few months ago, a time when the world was only beginning to grow accustomed to Zoom classrooms, office meetings and...
The Imposition Of Criminality
De-notified Tribes (DNTs) continue to be denied access to housing, healthcare, nutrition, education, livelihood, political representation, justice and lives of dignity. It’s scary how little we know/are taught about this history. This is my humble attempt to spread the word.
To The Last Mile: Digital Financial Services In Rural Communities
Ever since I completed my graduation, got a job and became financially independent, I do not remember transacting much in cash, except for the few instances of grocery shopping at a local market or paying for an auto rickshaw ride. There was always a digital...
Many Cures For The Same Disease
Access to healthcare is a necessity to all communities. However, the diagnoses, treatment and recovery vary as widely as the communities themselves. To aid a human body heal itself is considered a noble cause, and the need for it is only increasing with the population...
A Balanced Diet Amidst Imbalances
Gogunda is a small town (tehsil headquarters), about 35 kilometres from Udaipur city. It has a hilly terrain. The sabzi mandi in Gogunda is vibrant with lots of fresh vegetables and greens. From sugarcane to the nutritious singhada (water chestnut), there is a wide...
…Ab Toh Bhai Chal Padi, Apni Yeh Naav Hai…
Having lived grounded for most of my life, moving to a new city would’ve been a horrifying thought. But then there’s a time in one’s life when change is necessary – it hands itself over to you when you least expect it – like finding that crumpled Re 500 note in your...
असामान्य गर्भाशय
मैं आपसे बात करना चाहती हूँ उस जगह की जहाँ हमने ज़िन्दगी की शुरुआत की| यह किसी घर या मकान की बात नही हैं, बल्कि बात है उस जगह की जहाँ हर किसी को जीवन मिलता है, जहा जीवन का सृजन होता है। माँ के शरीर का वो भाग जहाँ हम 9 माह रहें है, जिसे हम गर्भाशय कहते हैं। प्रकृति...
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...
Whom Do We Serve?: Making A Tough Choice For The Organization’s Ethos
When I first got to know about being placed at Shram Sarathi for my fellowship year, I was pleasantly surprised. Wanting to work at the intersection of finance and development, this was like a dream come true. It was also like coming back to a point where I had...