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Shyamvati Netam, a cheerful woman. She is quite intelligent and hardworking. I first met her in the month of September. Her homeis located about 200 meters from a small hill on the northern side of Kutulnar village. She staying with her husband Manglu and three childrens along with parents in-law. Today’s story is about that […]

“The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” This is the bookish definition of the word resilience. But I believe that the definition of resilience is different for different people, based on what they are striving for, what they are fighting for, and what their journey has been so far, and how […]

A few months ago, during the Panchayati Raj elections in Uttarakhand, I witnessed something that stayed with me long after the celebrations ended. Watching the election process closely was both interesting and deeply thought-provoking. On paper, it appeared to be a positive sign for gender representation. Many women were contesting for the position of Pradhan […]

In many rural parts of India, women’s potential often remains untapped not because of lack of ability, but due to limited opportunities and societal expectations. However, when the right platforms are created, powerful transformations begin to unfold. These are not just stories of employment, but of courage, self-belief, and leadership. Breaking Barriers: Yuvana Sundhari’s Journey […]

Can your small piece of land become a Kalpataru plot?  We discuss the answers in the third part of this series today. How much land: If you do not want to depend at least on the market for vegetables, then 15 po decimals of land is enough. Even with 6 to10 decimals, this Kalpataru model […]

In the hills of Uttarakhand, festivals are not just occasions marked on a calendar; they are lived experiences, deeply rooted in nature, memorya nd community life. One such festival that captures this essence beautifully is Khatarua, celebrated across the Kumaon region with warmth, energy, and a strong sense of togetherness. Khatarua is observed in mid-September, […]

The discussion around cooking oil in India has been growing rapidly, especially when it comes to traditional oils like groundnut oil. If we look at the basic economics, one kilogram of groundnuts currently costs around ₹200. From that, we only get about 300–350 ml of oil through normal extraction. This means that to produce one […]

When I first started visiting the project villages for surveys, I did not expect the experience to change my perspective so deeply. I went there to collect data and understand ground realities. What I found was far more powerful than numbers on a sheet. In the mountain regions, almost every woman is engaged in farming. […]

There’s a reel I keep coming back to. A woman, speaking plainly, no dramatic background music, no fancy cuts – just her, sitting somewhere ordinary, saying something that refuses to leave my head: “We spend half our lives waiting for fairness. We complain about the cards we were dealt, our background, who betrayed us, what […]

When people speak about climate change, the conversation often revolves around global temperature rise, melting glaciers, or rising sea levels. Those are indeed important, no doubt; But working in the hills of Uttarakhand shifts you from that wide-eyed perspective towards realities more grounded. Here, climate change is not an abstract concept discussed in reports and […]