Rural India is home of the original gig-economy worker. Enterprising villagers hop from tilling fields to tending shops, to door-to-door selling each day. Read the latest trends in micro-enterprises, rural start-ups and the shifting livelihoods of India’s villagers.
Livelihoods
The wheels are turning for migrant potters
Families of potters who have migrated from India’s countryside to Delhi with hopes of making it big are a disappointed lot, but there’s a ray of hope as people are rediscovering uses of earthenware
Action needed to stop tribal land alienation in Kerala
Measures need to be put into place to prevent land alienation in Kerala’s largest tribal settlement, which has been losing its land to outsiders for decades.
Strawberry sweetens deal for Maharashtra farmers
The luscious strawberry is moving beyond its comfort zone of Maharashtra’s Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar region, bringing a smile to farmers in other regions of the state as well.
Holi moly: Here’s a look at Tharu tribe’s celebrations
It takes a village to celebrate Holi for several days in a row, and the Tharu tribe of southern Uttarakhand leaves no stone unturned to do so.
Assamese monks on mission to save rare culture and language
Even before the UN declared 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, this Buddhist community of 2,000 people began an initiative to preserve the Tai Phake history, culture and identity by teaching its young to speak, read and write their native language.
What’s a tiger reserve without a safari?
The tiny, off-grid destination in North Bengal’s Buxa tiger reserve is a paradise for nature lovers, but its tourism-dependent residents are plagued by a mountain of problems.
The Kolhapur rice tipping the scale one grain at a time
Nearly a decade after getting the recognition it deserved – bagging a GI tag in 2015 – Maharashtra’s fragrant and slender Ajara Ghansal rice is now becoming the foodie’s favourite.
Shrimply Tamil Nadu
Does the sight of shrimp make you hungry? This photo walkthrough shows how shrimp farming is reshaping the environment, livelihoods and social relations in a coastal village of Tamil Nadu.
Flower farming is no bed of roses
Welcome to the world of Dutch roses and those who usher brief moments of joy in our lives—the growers.