Manipur youngster tackles life’s odds to scorch football pitch

Accolades and applause weren’t part of Hormipam Ruivah’s growing up years. As an impoverished child from Somdal in Ukhrul district of Manipur, he was more accustomed to being upbraided regularly for sneaking out all too often to play his favourite sport, football. But that was then. Today, Hormipam, 22, is a celebrated footballer with Kerala… Continue reading Manipur youngster tackles life’s odds to scorch football pitch

Add Jaisalmer’s desert festival to your bucket list

Ishwar, a 30-year-old camel herder, was happy to be participating in a four-day desert festival, Maru-Mahotsav, in Rajasthan’s Khoodi village — about 50 km away from the city of Jaisalmer. The village was drenched in moonlight. “This happens once a year. This time, it’s happening after the outbreak of the coronavirus. We are excited about… Continue reading Add Jaisalmer’s desert festival to your bucket list

The dangerous state of women farmers

Trigger warning: content refers to rape and violence. A staggering 80% of working women in India earn their living in agriculture.  As more rural men migrated to urban areas, more women entered the agricultural sector, according to the 2017-18 Economic Survey. They began taking on multiple roles from cultivators and labourers to entrepreneurs.  Yet very… Continue reading The dangerous state of women farmers

Kokum fruit juice tastes of success in Karnataka

Kokum or Garcinia indica has a special place in Karnataka. Found on the edges of forests and farmlands in the Konkan region, the juice wrenched out of the fruit is a favourite household drink. It is considered to have tremendous medicinal value. It is believed to cool down the body. Scientific studies have also documented… Continue reading Kokum fruit juice tastes of success in Karnataka

Sip on hot kahwa inside world’s largest igloo cafe in Kashmir’s Gulmarg

Young Minham couldn’t hold his excitement when he saw a white dome-shaped structure that blended perfectly into the snow-covered winter landscape of Gulmarg in northern Kashmir.  It was a sight that popped out of his English alphabet book, literally – “I is for igloo,” written under an image of an ice home of the Inuit… Continue reading Sip on hot kahwa inside world’s largest igloo cafe in Kashmir’s Gulmarg

Bengal village gasps for air – blames Bhutan

Sita Subba contracted a fungal infection about five years ago on her right hand. It itches and burns a lot, so much so that she can’t sleep at night. She can’t help scratching her infected skin and it gets worse. Medication is not helping either. The 67-year-old resident of Rangamati division, Central Dooars Tea Estate,… Continue reading Bengal village gasps for air – blames Bhutan

Saving Rajasthan’s villagers from online fraud

The government of Rajasthan has promised to allocate 1.33 crore mobile phones to women. But would they know how to use them?  Through digital literacy, Yasmin Bano is changing the lives of the women in rural Rajasthan. A mother of two, Yasmin got married at the age of 16. Soon she had big responsibilities but… Continue reading Saving Rajasthan’s villagers from online fraud

Shrimply Tamil Nadu

Sanker (name changed) is a foreman at a shrimp farm in Mayiladuthurai. He has spent the last 25 years of his life working with shrimp. The farm has 20 ponds of various sizes looked after by 14 permanent workers who earn Rs 650 a day. They are expected to be on the farm all day… Continue reading Shrimply Tamil Nadu

Patayat Sahu’s tale of plants, potions and Padma Shri

Nandol in Kalahandi district of Odisha has a lot to celebrate. For long, the villagers have marveled at a medicinal garden spread over 1.5 acres behind the house of one Patayat Sahu. Boasting of a wide variety of plant species such as Kakharu, Maeda and Rasnajadi, the garden was a source of immense pride, providing… Continue reading Patayat Sahu’s tale of plants, potions and Padma Shri

She creates awareness about the Indian Constitution among tribes

Simdega Agustina Soreng of Simdega district in Jharkhand recalls how and why she decided to create awareness about the Indian Constitution among tribes – in her own words. I was inspired by Malala Yousafzai. It was 2012. I was 21. What touched me the most was that Malala, despite being younger than me, was already… Continue reading She creates awareness about the Indian Constitution among tribes

Mixing it up: Odisha farmer’s journey inspires other women

Suprava Pradhan uses the pulverizer machine, provided to her with the support from Odisha Millets Mission, to grind finger millet. Unlike paddy, millets need few inputs, little cultivation and grow well in dry zones – that’s why they’re “low duty crops.” (Photo by Abhijit Mohanty) Suprava, from the village of Kendujhar in Odisha, became the… Continue reading Mixing it up: Odisha farmer’s journey inspires other women

Village of coat makers

‘Coat walon ka gaanv’ (village of coat makers) is at the end of a long serpentine road that winds through thick growths of teak and lyptus trees in Dewas district of rural Madhya Pradesh. It is here that the intense and constant rattling of sewing machines and the spectacle of tailors startle the visitors. For,… Continue reading Village of coat makers

Making gur and melting hearts

A little beyond the hectic Uttar Pradesh city of Meerut is a hamlet called Dabathwa. You know you’ve arrived when you’re surrounded by acres of sugarcane.  But that’s not the only sweet thing about this village. It’s also home to many women entrepreneurs making and selling various food items.  From ghee (clarified butter) to gur… Continue reading Making gur and melting hearts

Flower farming is no bed of roses

Carmine red is perhaps the colour of the rose you will give to your loved one this Valentine’s Day. But as you plan your grand gestures for this day that celebrates love, here’s a little something to make you stop and smell the roses.  During Valentine’s season, rose growers typically notch between 20 to 25%… Continue reading Flower farming is no bed of roses

Manipur’s drug saviour

Intubated and senseless, I was hanging for my life with a life-threatening disease a few years ago. I experienced the worst. But watching young adolescents die of drug overdose or withdrawal was possibly infinitely worse. Paranoia and hallucinations followed by twitching and gasping for air, with blood streaming down from the nose and bubbles forming… Continue reading Manipur’s drug saviour

Radio triumphs over technological shifts

There’s YouTube and InstaReels, never mind old fashioned TV. WhatsApp chat groups bombard us with shared media too.  Today Indians are inundated with video and text options – a dizzying array of ways to be informed and entertained.  And yet more and more people are listening to radio, particularly in tier II and Tier III… Continue reading Radio triumphs over technological shifts

Novel elephant alarm: Bengal villagers turn to the bottle

People retreat inside as the gathering darkness brings in its wake a jumbo-sized fear in the West Bengal village that acts as a buffer zone to the protected Khuntimari Moraghat forest in the Jalpaiguri district.  But hard-working farmer Sukhram Oraon sleeps tight at night in his tin-roofed house made of mud and wood, occasionally awakened… Continue reading Novel elephant alarm: Bengal villagers turn to the bottle

The girl over the moon

After the sudden death of Akankashya’s father, her mother dropped her off at the Adruta Children’s Home in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. She was only five years old.  But that did not stop her from shooting for the moon.  Today, Akankashya Dash is one of the six students from the Young Tinker Educational Foundation to be working… Continue reading The girl over the moon

‘Ecological threat to next generation’, warn Chipko leaders

The Chipko movement of 1973 was essentially a rural Indian women’s movement aimed at preserving forests after facing immense losses due to deforestation. The peaceful protest had the women of Uttarakhand (then Chamoli district) hugging trees and standing as human shields to save them from getting axed. We spoke to the environmentalists of that era… Continue reading ‘Ecological threat to next generation’, warn Chipko leaders