Community Development

Complexion Complexities

“Let’s get a team photo- you guys look very fresh and happy today!”“Ma’am! Can we hold a bag each for the photo?”“Yes! Yes!”“Ma’am! Click us fully – don’t cut off our faces or legs from the photo! We see that in the photos you post of our bags, you don’t put faces. Won’t it look […]

“What will you do, that teachers are not able to do?”

Election dates announced. Candidates and chosen, symbols appear. Posters are out. After days of election campaigning, the big day arrives. The candidate steps down after making his speech. “What will you do, that teachers are not able to do?” asked a Grade 6 student – pushing for change and action. Questions that were shot, aimed […]

Rainy Days

“I saw on news about today’s rain holiday when I was just about to leave. Decided to come to school anyway – can sit and get some work done, so I can be in classrooms once children are back,” says the Head Mistress. Armed with her bag, umbrella in one hand; lifting her sari gracefully […]

Full Meals.

The space outside school had suddenly transformed- an otherwise quiet road was suddenly noisy. Music blaring from the loudspeaker, little kids dancing around, families walking in and out of the temple- little shops had sprung up from nowhere- selling little clips, plastic toys, and bangles to vessels. The whole space bore a festive look and […]

Dichotomies

“I can never learn to stitch. It’s not meant for me.”‘Do you want to try starting with hand stitching? Are you scared of machines?’“No no. I’m not. Give me time till end of margazhi (a Tamil month) when we’ll start sowing for mallaata (groundnuts) and then I’ll come”‘But you’ll have to take care of the […]

“People come and go, these trees don’t”

June 2017… The first week at Kannarpet and day 1 of school visits… Started out in an Activa, with school addresses.. Once we got off the East Coast Road highway, we stood facing long stretches of land, with no evident indication of which right or left to take; no person in vicinity to ask around […]

Quality Food: An Essential or Luxury?

He looks searchingly through the long chains of shampoo, oil, health drink packets hanging in front of him and points towards ghee.He asks for 200ml, looks at the price and asks for a smaller packet. Nervously, he asks for another brand of ghee. While one brand sells it for INR42, the other was INR65. He […]

Kontemporary Kannagi

தலை முதல் கால் வரை கோவம்.அவள் துண்டு துண்டாக வெட்டி வீசினாள், ஏரித்தாள், புகைததாள், தீயில் இட்டாள்,கோவம் தணிந்தது,காலை தாமதமாக எழுந்த கோவம் வேகமாக மாறி, வேலைக்கு பஸ் புடிக்க அலறிப்பிடித்து கிளம்பும் நம்ப ஊரு கண்ணகி.Transliteration: Thalai mudhal kal varai kovam; aval thundu thundaga vetti veesinal, erithal, pugaithal, theeyil ittal, kovam thanindhadhu, kalai dhamadhamaga ezhundha kovam vegamaga mari, velaikku bus pidikka alaripidithu kilambum namba […]

What is an Opportunity?

A typical mid-morning in a village; women have sent kids to school, finished cooking and are taking on house chores at a slower pace, while letting Tamil serial dialogues add drama to the otherwise quiet home. Jayanthi walks in to the streets and invites these women “vaanga, school lendu meeting poda vandhirkanga.. Unga nalladhuku dhan..”We’ve […]

“Those were such happy days!”

We walked along the mud roads of the village lined with coconut trees and the green fields. Jayanthi, the tailoring center teacher, fondly recollected her childhood memories of walking to school, carrying books on her heads wading through knee deep water. “Now, neither are there hardly rains nor are there moments where I do things […]

Category: Community Development