Library to me is a mosaic, a beautiful patchwork of ideas, people, and stories...
A Year In The Gojri Calendar
Winters are here and at the start of December, all the colorful kambals...
Rehan And Patwan – A System of Mortgaging Agricultural Land
In rural India, where a significant portion of agricultural land is cultivated...
The Art Of Spinning : My First-Time Experience
It's a flower. A flower unlike anything you and I have ever seen. Within it...
भोपा और गाड़िया लोहार समुदाय
भोपा समुदाय भोपा समुदाय राजस्थान भारत में लोक देवताओं का गायन करने वाला एक...
Gender And Masculinity Intervention In Kushalgarh, Banswara
Kushalgarh is a block in the Banswara district of Rajasthan. 80% of its...
Garment Construction: An Overview
Fun Fact: The piece of apparel you are currently wearing was potentially put...
Understanding The Complexitites Of Labelling
In a recent group conversation, a colleague lightheartedly asked something...
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...
When People Became My People
As soon as the first part of our fellowship program, i.e. the induction training ended in Udaipur, one by one all the fellows and the team members started leaving for their respective field areas. I was the last one left to see off everyone as I had been placed with...
“हम सब एक हैं” : We All Are One!
As an India Fellow, I got the opportunity to learn closely from women, who are actively working towards empowerment and livelihood at Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Cooperative Federation Limited, Ahmedabad. The central theme of the organization is to provide social...
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...
Surname, Please?
The train journey to Mangaon had worn me out. I had woken up at 5 am today, a record timing by my standards. Adding to this, the speaker on stage had been speaking in Marathi for the past twenty minutes. Due to these specific factors, my eyes steadily shut. Father...
15 Girls And A 40 Hour Journey From Himachal Pradesh To Bihar
When we started writing India Fellow blogs, we were told how our stories were all unique, however common they may seem. We were told that no one would be able to represent our story and the moments in our journey the way we could. Today, as I board Himgiri Express...
The Dualities Of Women Empowerment
An event full of contradictions An uneven and tardy playground of a government school, a bunch of male teachers, a female Sarpanch, a young woman as the organiser and thirty young and high spirited girls had gathered for a football match on a windy Wednesday morning....
From Adding Numbers To Adding Values: The Story Of Two Reckless Learners
On a sunny Monday, I entered the class carrying the same jhola and wearing my best ever smile. The kids joined me with a grin. A 16-year-old boy, 5ft 2inch tall, with broad shoulders, is currently studying in 9th standard. I remember how his eyes that have never gone...
Searching For Feminism In Rural Uttar Pradesh
About three weeks back while I was sitting in my balcony, observing the commotion on the road and thinking about the last 8 months that I have spent in Kantain village of Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh, several thoughts ran through my mind. It was a mixed bag, of...
Vittyasaathi – A Lifestory
A bleak light begins to flicker in one of Kathotia village’s households at 3 am. A long day awaits Sabo Devi*. She brews herself some tea, feeds and cleans the cow, gets ready and is on her way to work by 5 o’clock. Her daughter, Julie*, takes care of every other...
I Do Not Ask A Child “If You Go To School” Anymore!
Among them was a baby girl aged 10 months (however appeared to be no less than 3 months old). She was suffering from both Severe Acute Malnutrition and Tuberculosis. It was an image that has distraught me till date.
The Kind Of People I Meet During A Sale
One of the best things about being a sales person and selling products is the variety of people you meet. From easy going and generous to the most fussy and reluctant. Happy children wanting the laddus to old people volunteering to help; it has been a very different...
Why Did 9-Year-Old Bright Faiz Drop Out Of The Village School?
Faiz Parveen, a 9-year-old studying in primary school at village Daniyalpur in Munger District of Bihar was excelling in his studies. Faiz was studying in this school since 3 years and was always on time for school. It was the month of October (2018), when Faiz was...
One Scary Night At The Prerna Tribal Girl’s Hostel In Bihar
During my second visit to the Prerna Hostel at Danapur, Patna I got the chance to be closer to Sudha ma’am and learn much more about her girls. What had surprised me in the first visit was their daily routine. They would wake up everyday to the ring of the bell at...