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
Guardians of the hoolock gibbons of Hollongapar
In Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, Assam, tourist guides stand as sentinels, ensuring that the echoes of “hook hook hook-ooo” continue to resound through the ancient hollong trees, signalling a harmony between humans and nature.
Maharashtra’s fiery Bhiwapuri chilli faces extinction
Bhiwapuri chilli, known for its bright red colour, intense heat and cultural significance, is teetering on brink as farmers face low yields and turn towards growing hybrid varieties.
Kashmir stares at a saffron sunset
Pampore, the hub of Kashmiri saffron, casts a gloomy picture as production of the prized spice declines due to climate change, encroachment of fields, inadequate irrigation and intrusion of cheaper Iranian variants
Rajanigandha perfumes Odisha’s cyclone-wrecked Ralaba
Ralaba’s rajanigandha fields are a source of livelihood and a testament to a community’s ability to reinvent itself after a natural calamity.
Maharashtra village strives to preserve ancestral fishing practices
A bunch of determined fisherwomen of Thal village in Maharashtra’s Raigad district are fighting against odds and time to sustain their traditional fishing economy.
Uri’s historic walnut market struggles to survive
The historic Lagama walnut market in north Kashmir’s Uri, dating back to pre-1947, is grappling with challenges such as cheaper imports, a 5% GST burden, and a drop in rates, impacting over 10,000 families.
Building homes, the natural way
This architect couple is on a journey to revive, document and promote the traditional ways of constructing natural buildings, through their Thannal Natural Homes initiative in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.
Planting palm trees to prevent lightning strike deaths
Odisha tops the list of states with the most number of deaths caused by lightning. Now an environmentalist is on a mission to revive the traditional practice of planting palm trees to counter the problem.
Nainital villagers use local oak to contain wildfires
Sustained efforts to plant native Himalayan oak trees bear fruit in Nainital district of Uttarakhand, which was once besieged by invasive pines that cause wildfires and climate change.