Blogs
#FIELDSTORIES: Back to Where She Started From…
Konda Mallepally is a prosperous village in Nalgonda District of Telangana State, India. It is located 100 KM towards the southeast of Hyderabad. Being at a junction it has a thriving cattle market. Several temples are also built
#FIELDSTORIES: Does It Really Have To Be So Unfair
Mongiben has been paralyzed in the right hand ever since she was a child. She learned to function like anyone else despite her disability – from cooking meals to rearing children to even contributing to
#FIELDSTORIES: Rules, Red tape and Avoidable Distress
A distraught Vasanthi walked out of her home with only the clothes that she was wearing. She walked 5 km to the next village, travelled halfway with an unknown person, from where her parents took
#FIELDSTORIES: Work Hard Travel Harder – Tale of a Migrant Worker
Take it from Lilaben when she says travel is not all fun and games as she makes her way back to Gujarat all the way from Ghaziabad during the lockdown. The 55-year old agricultural laborer
#FIELDSTORIES: No Celebrations Here – A Story of Wedding Artists
The empty village streets have started to fill up with people, shops are slowly coming back into business, farming season is looking possible and other work is falling back on track too. With lockdown lifting,
#FIELDSTORIES: You Just Can’t Beat The Person Who Won’t Give Up
Rina Saha born 1964 in an upper-middle-class family in West Bengal was unwanted for no fault of hers. She was a girl... In spite of being fairly well to do, the family married her off
#FIELDSTORIES: Against All Odds
Sadla, a quaint little village with scorching heat and a total of 295 households, according to 2011 census, lies at the border of Surendranagar and Ahmedabad districts in Gujarat. The village has a literacy rate
#FIELDSTORIES: Poverty is Punishment For A Crime You Did Not Commit
Sharda met with an accident a decade ago compromising her mobility severely – she is incapacitated in her left leg. Sharda has not been able to get into paid work after that – confining her
#FIELDSTORIES: Small Businesses Take a Big Hit
Farzanaben is from Bajana – a village in Surendranagar district of Gujarat. She and her husband with their 5 children live in a one-room house owned by her mother-in-law. They used to live in a
#FIELDSTORIES: Lockdown Adds to Existing Vulnerability – Story of Neelima
Neelima was an agricultural labourer who would go to nearby farming villages – close to at least half an hour away – to work on fields. For a 9 hour work day, Neelima brought home a sum of
#FIELDSTORIES: No Recognition, No Respite – Story of a Woman Farmer
One sector which has seen severe and massive disruption due to lockdown is the agricultural sector – the shutting down of the entire country coinciding with prime harvesting season has caused massive harm to perishable
#FIELDSTORIES: Shardaben – A Vegetable Vendor from Sanand
Shardaben is from a village called Savlas in Patdi, Gujarat. Ten months before the lockdown, the 55 year old woman moved to Sanand – close to 70 kms away from her village – with her
#FIELDSTORIES: Strapped down – Lockdown Steals the Modest Livelihood of Scrap Collectors
While it has affected everyone, the communities who were already economically and socially vulnerable have taken the hardest hit in terms of employment during this pandemic. Shardaben lives in Sadla, a village close to Patdi
#FIELDSTORIES: Survival is a Privilege
Champa, a 32 year old, had to leave her marital home due to continuous physical, mental and sexual abuse by her husband and his family. She and her one year old son are currently living
#FIELDSTORIES: Do I Belong? – A Woman’s Continual Struggle With Abuse
Pavitra, got married at a young age. She is now 30; already 12 years into her marriage and has an 11 year old son. From a village in rural Gujarat, Pavitra has faced physical and
#FIELDSTORIES: State Fails a State Service Provider – An ASHA Worker’s Story of Abuse
It hasn’t been easy for Aarti to do her work during this lockdown. A frontline service provider during this pandemic, for being an ASHA worker, it has been very difficult for Aarti to balance her
#FIELDSTORIES: Reduced access to support services increases distress of violence survivor
Jyoti is a 37 year old – a single mother and a survivor of domestic violence from a village in Patan district, Gujarat. She recently, after a long battle, got divorced in November, 2019. She
#FIELDSTORIES: Survival is a Tough Bet 500 Kilometres Away From Home
For construction having emerged as the fastest growing industry in India, it absorbs a lot of migrants from rural areas. It is also true that migrants in construction work face poor living and working conditions,
#FIELDSTORIES: Shelter Homes in Assam refuse to accept new residents for the lack of CoVid related admission guidelines
There are over 70 shelter homes in Assam and yet, homelessness looms large for women seeking shelter due to a mix of fear, confusion and lack of COVID19 related guidelines. At 2 pm on Friday,
#FIELDSTORIES: Young and determined: Female Sarpanch Facilitates Collective Effort
At this critical time, Vangadhra village in Vinchhiya Taluka of Rajkot district is in the hands of a fierce and young leader. Shobhnaben, the 30 year old Sarpanch, has left no stone unturned to enforce
#FIELDSTORIES: Young and determined: Female Sarpanch Facilitates Collective Effort
At this critical time, Vangadhra village in Vinchhiya Taluka of Rajkot district is in the hands of a fierce and young leader. Shobhnaben, the 30 year old Sarpanch, has left no stone unturned to enforce
#FIELDSTORIES: Locked down with an alcoholic husband – an ASHA worker’s struggle with abuse
Kamla, an ASHA worker was married off at age 14. Four years later her husband died of a kidney infection, leaving her widowed at 18 years of age. She has two sons from the marriage, now
#FIELDSTORIES: Between the devil and the deep blue sea – an ASHA worker’s story of abuse
Dipti is an ASHA supervisor in a village in Sidhpur - a block in the Patan district of Gujarat. She got married when she was 18 and now has 4 daughters. Her husband has always
#FIELDSTORIES: Spinning Between Survival and Abuse
A woman was referred to the Mahila Sahayata Kendra on 5th of March, 2020 for having attempted suicide. She drank poison and was brought to the counselors for assistance and remediation. Savitri is a 40
Launching #FIELDSTORIES: Incorporating a gender lens to understanding impact of CoVid 19
When faced with mammoth issues, it’s not always easy to zoom in and examine the situation at a macro level. While we practice distancing to fight this pandemic, stories are the perfect way to stay