iVolunteer Blog - everything about volunteeringI have been sitting with this question for a while now. It started when I was in the middle of hiring for my team – going through CVs, sitting across from people in interviews, trying to figure out who to bring in. And somewhere between the second and third round, it hit me: I was […]
There are places that feel alive with noise people walking by, shops opening and closing, vehicles passing, conversations drifting through the air. And then there are places like mine. Every morning I arrive at a site that feels almost forgotten by the world. The land stretches out dry and cracked, the soil pale and dusty […]
Nine months in the field changes you. It changes the way you look at a forest, the way you listen to an old woman sorting through dried amla berries, the way you calculate the worth of a single tree. When I first arrived in Chhattisgarh, I came with maps, data sheets, and a vague understanding […]
तुम रुकती क्यों नहीं हो…?🌊 क्या कभी थकान तुम्हें भी छू जाती है, या फिर तुमने थकना सीखा ही नहीं? तुम्हारी हर लहर मानो अपनी ही कोई कहानी लेकर उठती है, कभी शोर मचाकर, कभी बिल्कुल खामोश रहकर; पर हर बार कुछ न कुछ अपने साथ बहा ही ले जाती है, टूटे सपने, अधूरी बातें,और […]
For a year long, I have been understanding the rural enterprises through conducting various Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP) trainings among women where I talk about starting or growing a business, marketing and finances. I have been attending various exhibitions to understand the variety of products, their labelling, packaging and marketing strategies and learning deeply about […]
There’s a particular kind of sting that comes with feedback that’s true. My mentor’s words were careful, almost gentle: “You’re brilliant at planning and management. But your communication… sometimes you’re reactive rather than responsive.” She wasn’t wrong. I knew it even as I felt myself bristling against it. Here’s what nobody tells you about personal […]
I still remember that line from Macaulay’s infamous Minute on Indian Education, the one weall had to memorize for UPSC prep: creating Indians “English in taste, in opinions, in morals,and in intellect.”Back then, sitting with my history textbook, I dismissed it as colonial history-irrelevant tomodern India, a global leader on the world stage. I was […]
It is the month of June 2025, and monsoon is at its peak. Landslides have become frequent in the news, and I am in Pithoragarh conducting a survey of Udhyam Entrepreneurs. For this, my organisation gave me a list of the funded entrepreneurs, 90% of whom were men. And out of those 10% which had […]
सुनो… कुछ लिखा है तुम्हारे लिए 🌄 सुना है लोग तुम तक पहुँचने के लिएबड़े-बड़े सपने,कई योजनाएँ बनाते हैं, पर क्या उन्हें पता है…तुम तक पहुँचने के लिए सिर्फ रास्ते ही नहीं होते… तुम सुंदर हो,कठिन भी,और गहरे भी। तुम्हारे हर मोड़ पर साँस ठहर जाती है, और हौसला बार-बार परखा जाता है। नीचे से […]
It still feels like magic. I know this decision required a great deal of courage, to leave my first job that gave me financial stability, independence, and yes, sometimes stress too. Walking away from that comfort was not easy. Yet, this decision has become the stepping stone in my journey towards becoming a social entrepreneur. […]
iVolunteer Blog - everything about volunteering 