A New Lens, Jharokha | झरोखा

It has been 8 months in my project here in Siwan Bihar, and I would like tell everyone about the entire journey, so here it is. Do let me know what you think. Apprehensions & initial jitters - I had joined my host organisation Parivartan clueless with no idea what...

Barter In The Hinterlands Of Gujarat

I work with Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a  legal aid organisation in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Foremost of CSJ’s vision is to create a network of legal aid centres across India. One of our centres is setup in Umarpada block of Surat district. This dainty quite block is...

What Renu Managed To Do With Training And Courage

What Renu Managed To Do With Training And Courage

Renu Devi was 7 months pregnant and expecting her second child. It was around midnight that she started having labour pains. She ignored the pain since her expected due date was two months away so she thought these must be false pains. Moreover, it was late at night...

Sanju’s Tryst With Beekeeping

Sanju’s Tryst With Beekeeping

Beekeeping, apart from helping improve crop produce and sustainability, can also provide a viable source of income for many in rural India. An account of how the practice has helped a high-school dropout rediscover his purpose in life, thanks to proper training and...

Poverty : My 1st Lesson In The Social Sector

How long has it been since you had your last meal? 17 hours for me, out of which 13 went by sleeping in an air-conditioned compartment of a train. My head is aching and I’m sipping water slowly but here’s why I’m tolerating hunger: Can’t leave the luggage unattended...

Saving The World : One Stupa At A Time

Saving The World : One Stupa At A Time

Everyone agrees the planet is getting warmer. What do we do about it? How do we adapt to it? More than two decades ago, Chewang Norphel, also known as the Ice Man of Ladakh, hit upon an ingenious idea. What if he could somehow store all the water that goes waste in...

Of A Medicine Degree, Ethical Dilemmas And An Opportunity

Of A Medicine Degree, Ethical Dilemmas And An Opportunity

Written by Anupama Pain - India Fellow alumni, in the fellowship program team and Tushar's friend. “Do the doctors or the nurses scold if you are crying or screaming due to labor pain in the hospital?” I listened to the exchange with some amusement. Tushar, 25, to my...

Humans Of Demonetization : A Digital Campaign

Humans Of Demonetization : A Digital Campaign

To read the whole story click here Just a few minutes before the official announcement, different corners of this nation had different things to worry about: the capital region wouldn’t stop ranting about the smog, people down-south were worried about a chief minister...

From Chennai To Ladakh

From Chennai To Ladakh

Written by Anupama Pain - India Fellow alumni, fellowship program team member and Surya's friend. 30th August 2016, while the rest of the country was experiencing the customary monsoon, the Sikkim bureaucracy was worried. They awaited the arrival of the delegation...

Voices Behind Statistics : The Faces Of The City

Voices Behind Statistics : The Faces Of The City

I had evidently become curious about every passing human – co-passengers in the metro, rickshaw pullers in the neighbourhood, friends, co workers and the like. No one in my vicinity seemed to belong here. They seemed to have travelled from faraway places in the...

Pidiya, A Unique Bihari Festival For Girls

Pidiya made on wall India is a country of diversity where in every 5 miles the language and water changes. In different states people have different rituals, customs, festivals and celebrations. Having been in Bihar since last few months, I witnessed some rituals, the...

Of Disturbing Instances, Gender Disparities And Taking Charge

It was just another day in one of the villages of South Madhya Pradesh. A colleague and I were passing through the half-broken muddy roads, to reach our destination. As part of our project, the agenda was to talk to women collectively and motivate them to save a...

The Butterfly Effect

A butterfly flutters its wings on one side of the world and causes a hurricane on the other side. This concept knows as 'The butterfly effect', which was initially used with weather predictions (Lorenz's Chaos Theory), gradually gained popularity among theorists to...

Boating In A Cricket Ground

The title may sound a little weird but this is talk of the town in Mhaswad for the last month. When the fellowship journey started, field visits were usual and I had chance to visit nearby places and get familiarized with the surroundings. The town is gifted (not sure...