Introduction The past seven months have been a period of self-reflection and...
Why I Find Myself In The Kitchen, More Than I Realise
It didn't occur to me until I was excitedly narrating the story of how I ended...
Winter Is Coming, So Is Consumerism: The Connection Between Game of Thrones and Your Wallet
Game of Thrones (GoT) is a popular television series that aired on HBO from...
Exploring India On Wheels Through My Colorful Lenses
A photo captured from Pauri Garhwal while I was traveling with my colleagues...
Addressing Mental Health Challenges for Women in India
Introduction Mental health is as vital as physical health and should be...
About Endless Possibilities And A Library Workshop In Goa
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...
Maternal And New Born Health Crisis In Dalsinghsarai, Bihar
It was the last week of July. Dalsinghsarai was dealing with a critical issue of maternal and new born deaths. These deaths had instigated a series of investigations like social autopsy, analysis of existing events along with evaluation of the responses by various...
सामुदायिक रेडियो सिर्फ रेडियो नहीं बल्कि लोगों की एकीकृत आवाज़ है
मैं पुरुलिआ, पश्चिम बंगाल के एक छोटे से गाँव में स्थित सामुदायिक रेडियो स्टेशन में काम करता हूँ | मुझसे बहुत सारे लोगों ने यह प्रश्न किया है कि सामुदायिक रेडियो स्टेशन क्या होता है | रेड एफ.एम, रेडियो मिर्ची और आकाशवाणी तो सुना है किन्तु यह सामुदायिक रेडियो स्टेशन...
An Old Man And A Frog In Rural Udaipur
Age is just a number! After the last few days as described in the previous blog post, she woke up in haste that morning. It was her last day in Nayawaas but she was already marking her calendar, planning her second visit. Children hung from every possible corner of...
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...
A Blackout That Defined Basic Necessities
One evening, when we came back to our room at Science Park, where I'm staying with my colleagues of Shiksharth, all of a sudden, the weather changed. There was heavy rain followed by storm, and to worsen the situation, came a tornado. The wind was so strong that it...
Learning From My India Fellow Journey – Sandeep Praharsha
To be honest with you, I had no clue what I was doing when I had applied for India Fellow. My folks seemed happy that I got into “something”, but they were not excited with the whole idea of me working in a random village anywhere in India. Their fears were further...
Redefining My Idea Of A Village
My father grew up in a village named Purana in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. My grandmother, whom I fondly call bou (mother, in Odia) still lives there. As a child, I visited and stayed there during summer and winter vacations. However, most of my ideas about the...
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...
The Toilet Story in a Village of Udaipur
With this post, I'd like to share my experience of Community Immersion in Nayawaas, a village about 120 km from Udaipur. Last few months were quite hectic for the entire team of Kshamtalya, as we were busy organizing the Learning Festival in various schools of Kotda...
Battling Severe Acute Malnutrition Amongst Children In Rural Rajasthan
The beautiful countryside of southern Rajasthan belies a well-kept secret: over half of the adult and child population is malnourished. In the areas where Basic Healthcare Services provides AMRIT health clinics offering high-quality, low-cost healthcare, child...
Memoirs of Kalahandi: The Cultural Preservationist
The concept of culture needs no introduction in a country like India. I vividly remember the time I asked an Australian guy about why he was planning a trip to India; and he replied, “For the diverse, amazing and vibrant culture man!”. It’s true, India is diverse with...
Baha Parab – The Festival of Flowers
Baha, the flower festival of Santhals is celebrated between February and March every year - the Falgun month as per Hindu Calendar. It is a celebration to express gratitude and respect to mother nature. Baha is one of the biggest festivals of Santhals after Sohrai -...
Living In Fear – Violence At Home
Kanku* is the second youngest of 8 siblings, 5 sisters and 3 brothers. She was a bright kid at school and unlike her older sisters was able to complete school upto class 5. For high school she would have to travel to the next village, which wasn’t what many girls her...