ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) have been instrumental in managing...
My Friend Azzli
I opened the door of our Drop-in Centre and found a short-statured dusky...
Conversations About Boundaries
"I think women's tolerance to male entitlement has come down as compared to...
Meenakshi Devi and Her Never Give Up Attitude
A still from Meenakshi Devi's classroom My anticipation from the first field...
My Experience Of Living In Rural India
As a part of India Fellow, I lived and worked in Kashipur in Rayagada district...
From Udaipur, With Love
“Is experiencing village life one of the reasons you joined the...
Working With Minimum Resources, With Those Who Have Nothing
Picture by Mahir Bhatt, a 2017 fellow Trigger Warning: This is a case of...
One Strand At A Time [A Photo Story]
Having spent a major part of my fellowship in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, it...
A Sweet And Sour Encounter
It was a hot and humid day, in a Rajasthani Village I visited a few months ago, my first time in this part of the country. Rainy season was beginning and the petrichor reminding me of the full-blown monsoon I had left back home in Mumbai. I was accompanied by two...
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...
How Santhal Tribe Celebrates: A Video Blog
Purulia has been a drought-prone district of West Bengal, India, with a semi-arid landscape. It has a rich cultural heritage, with a fusion of Bengali tradition and a touch of the tribal essence in it. People here celebrate a variety of local festivals with lots of...
A Postcard Of Hope For Better Future
As I sat down to have a cup of tea this morning, I heard my home calling me. There was a new post, and even in my mid 30s, I was as excited to receive it as I was at 7. Anne kept yelling since I had betrayed our old tradition of having breakfast together. We did it to...
Not My Cup Of Chai
“One’s destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller An early morning bus from Udaipur to Gogunda made up for a good start. Gogunda is a small town and a major hub for surrounding villages in Udaipur. It is well connected via buses and...
My Learning From A Genius : Stephen Hawking
On 14th March 2018 when we woke up, the world collectively experienced a huge loss. We read about the death of Stephen Hawking, the globally renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist known for his work on general relativity and quantum gravity, in the context of...
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...
Underlying Causes Of The TB Epidemic In India
In the recent End TB Summit held in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) from India by 2025, five years ahead of its globally set-deadline. Now, one might think that given 7 years we have in hand and support from...
Relevance of Affordable Private Schools for Education
In last few months, I have been interacting a lot with my community that surrounds Swarachna school in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh. Of varied things I got to know about them, a common link in all villages is that nobody wants to send their children to a government school....
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...
The Complex Dynamics Of Morality In Kalahandi, Odisha
During my stay in the United Kingdom, I volunteered at a not-for-profit organization which worked for advocacy of human rights. As a case-worker, I had developed empathy for people’s problems and started to believe in the romantic ideology that people are devoid of...
Cohabitation as a Way of Convenient Lifestyle
There were fewer students in my school that day and I was talking to some of the boys from 10th grade. It is located in the village of Jhed, Rajasthan. They were curious about my age and lifestyle. The conversation led to their understanding of relationships, gender...
How Would It Be To Think Without Words!
Most of my last month was spent conducting Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with students of various skill development training programs. These are short term programs, from 4-6 months, focusing on skills such as Computer Literacy, Workplace Readiness and Basic English...
Lessons From a Temporary Illness : Looking Through a Glass
The last quarter of 2017 has been quite weird. I’ve been privy to something remarkably out of my comfort zone, and in turn, have put many people out of theirs. But, that's a debate for the more refined minds. India Fellow is like that freaky mirror in Lewis Carrol’s...