Author: Gurvinder Singh
Forget logging or hunting – two Assam villages embrace ecotourism
Giving up hunting and tree felling, two Assamese villages are conserving their forest habitat rather than let their natural resources erode. With their villages now on the eco-tourism map, they are embracing alternate livelihoods.
Ferocious river threatens potters’ livelihood
The 500-year-old legacy of Majuli Island’s potters is at risk as the River Brahmaputra slowly swallows their land and, ironically, measures to prevent erosion only add to the potter’s woes, never mind the next generation’s lack of interest in the art.
Farming youth feel emboldened
As the year-long farmers’ protest comes to an end after the government scrapped three contentious farm laws, young people in the farming communities, especially from Haryana and Punjab, feel emboldened by the movement's success.
Naga tourism takes a hit due to violence
Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival – a much-awaited cultural extravaganza – was called off because of violence in the region. This comes as local tourism was already suffering because of the pandemic.
Big money in small mustards
Around 3,000 farmers and migrant returnees in Majuli – Assam’s flood-ravaged and eroding river island – reap rewards from growing climate resilient mustard.
Naga tribes carve out their culture
The boldly carved wooden gates at the entrance of Naga villages once appeased ancestors. Today, the few that remain are symbols of old hopes and aspirations – a legacy many artisans are keen to conserve.
Protesting farmers won’t back down
Despite a victory, protesting farmers show no sign of ending their demonstration on the roads outside Delhi, with thousands heading into the capital to mark the first-year anniversary of their protest.
Women bet big on rearing rabbits
Rearing rabbits is becoming one of the most lucrative and profitable businesses for women in Nagaland thanks to the huge demand for rabbit meat and low farming costs.
Looking for gold
The gold they pan for does not bring lustre to their lives. Yet, with work hard to come by and limited water for agriculture, villagers keep looking for gold.
“They are all my children”
Raised by a widowed mother who was on a mission to care for abandoned children, Neibanuo Angami carries on her mother’s calling to run their orphanage in Kohima, Nagaland. From begging for food as a child to letting her mother sell her only gold chain, Angami helped her mother nurture the children. Here Neibanuo Angami talks about her journey in her own words.
Mushroom cultivation becomes lifeline
After years struggling on paltry incomes, growing mushrooms provides West Bengali women better livelihoods and nutrition – and gives urban India more varieties.
Lockdown cash crunch effects organic farming
With the men away, women farmers had no money to buy chemical inputs during the lockdown and shifted to organic farming. They are already reaping the benefits
Bengal’s traditional shellac dolls face lacklustre future
Lack of demand coupled with rising cost of raw material has sounded death knell for shellac dolls in West Bengal with just a single artisan practicing it
Baul singers take to digital performances during lockdown
Minstrels of Bengal who carry on traditional baul singing were hit hard by the lockdown. Ticketed live streaming has enabled them to sustain themselves and their art
Cash crop cotton loses lustre for Ganjam farmers
Lack of transportation and marketing facilities and exploitation by private money lenders have forced cotton growers to cultivate other crops despite cotton’s potential for good returns
Restoration of ponds leads to revival of agriculture
Despite good rainfall, lack of water retention led to farmers’ migration. Deepening of ponds to store rainwater has stopped migration and helped farmers grow crops across seasons
Teachers turn rural house fronts into classrooms
Teachers of a government school in a Jharkhand village have turned exterior walls of mud houses into blackboards and raised platforms into seats, to ensure students continue their education
Returned migrants take to smuggling for want of livelihood
In villages of West Bengal close to the Indo – Bangladesh border, migrants back home during the lockdown have been lured into smuggling for financial sustenance
Making sal leaf plates lifts women out of poverty
With increased awareness about ecofriendly products, women in West Bengal make plates and bowls made of sal leaves, earning an increased and sustained income
Cyclone Amphan leaves trail of destruction in Sundarbans
Already in distress due to lockdown, horticulture farmers of Sundarbans suffer saltwater intrusion and loss of trees to Cyclone Amphan, while tiger widows lose livelihoods and homes