During my fieldwork as a Swar Fellow, there were many moments when the theories I had read suddenly came alive in front of me. But nothing struck me as strongly as the idea Simone de Beauvoir wrote in The Second Sex: “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” I had studied this earlier, […]
Category: Fellowship
Fellowship programs in social development usually are designed as youth social leadership immersions wherein young people undertake challenging development projects and learn about society, development and self as part of a leadership journey
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From Imagination to Green Reality
I know you love green. I know you like pollution-free open fields. So, just close your eyes and try to imagine a farmland of peas, bordered by sunflowers and banana trees. A farmer is smiling and removing weeds with family members. Is it good to see? I am sure this frame touches your heart. If […]
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Are We Eating Food or Chemicals?
In April 2025, during field visits to 105 mango farms in Sri Sathya Sai District, Andhra Pradesh, a disturbing reality emerged about the food we consume daily. Out of all these farms, only one was practicing organic farming. The remaining 104 farms relied heavily on chemical pesticides and insecticides to manage pests and diseases. Within […]
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Learnings from Mandala
No doubt action is adventure but the roots of action lies in learning, and learning sometimes comes with boredom. So everytime a learning bore me, I resort to action in the form of creation. Creating patterns, doodling lotuses and leaves, curves, etc., is a pass time activity for me. One evening, I was getting bored […]
I haven’t had a phone for the last three months. I know it sounds hard to believe, but that’sthe truth. I’ve been using my tablet for calling and for all my other work. In field conditions,carrying a tab everywhere is not easy at all, and when the Republic Day sale came, I finally decided that […]
There is a word in Bangla “স্থিতপ্রজ্ঞা” which means a person who stays calm, balanced or steady no matter what the situation is – good or bad. If I had to describe the woman of the mountains in one word, then it would essentially be this word. Living in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand has […]
Some Sundays are meant for rest.Some are meant for reflection.And then there are Sundays that set the tone for the entire year. We began this year with purpose, positivity, and memories that will stay with us for a long time 💚 The Yamuna River Cleanup & Forest Plog Walk, conducted in collaboration with Sanskriti Youth […]
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A Cup of Tea, A Pocketful of Curses
I was on my way back from Chennai after attending a family wedding. My route was long: Chennai → Vijayawada → Sukma. At Vijayawada, I had a connecting sleeper bus at 10:30 pm. By the time I reached, it was just 6 in the evening. Now, I have this small habit whenever I travel: if […]
As my project was primarily about increasing millet productivity, I was under the impression that millets were staple food crops which were fairly common in Uttarakhand and that my task was just to render assistance or actions that would further their availability within households. However, the situation was drastically different than what I had presumed. […]
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When Fear Met Kindness
After spending the whole day at my work site, I started my journey back to my rented room on my scooter. It was around 8 p.m, and the ride usually takes about 45 minutes. I travel on the Nagapattinam highway- a road that feels lonely at night. There are no busy streets, no continuous shops, […]
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