Stories Of Transformation

We are yet to fully grasp and make sense of the first pandemic we have seen in our lives. Nevertheless, one thing stands more striking than ever: every day, countless health care workers enter a warzone at work; they don’t know if the virus will consume them, nor do they know if their families will stay safe. Despite such constant threat to their lives, the majority of doctors, nurses, and EMTs are working overtime to make sure their communities can heal. Most of these men and women have one thing in common: they genuinely care about people and hold true

When Indians became slaves in their own house Imagine a stranger coming into your house and then telling you what to do such as where to sit and where not to eat. This is what Indians faced under British colonial rule. The tribals of India were possibly the worst hit. The British passed the Second Forest Act in 1878. Under this law, the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature for British India, divided the forests of India into three parts, namely Reserved, Protected, and Village forests. Reserved parts were full of rich natural resources and also the parts from where the

 Imagine a barren wasteland with dying crops, dry wells with water insufficient to feed an ant, and houses with gaping holes that provide barely any shelter. Now imagine a luscious landscape with wells overflowing with clean water, animals that graze around thriving crops enough to feed generations of families, and houses that can withstand thunderstorms and hold the happiest hearts inside. The first is the situation of many villages in India and second is what could be their potential. And what separates them often could be the dedicated work of social transformers. We had the opportunity to interview one such

For centuries, ancient tribes, traders, hunters, and artisans have contributed their skills and have been an important part of Indian society. By sharing their expertise and invaluable resources, these individuals served as the backbone of village life in India. From forging metal, making wigs from reused hairs, to providing blueprint designs for the construction of temples, these people filled niche voids within Indian society. But that was before the twin blows they faced: British colonialism marginalized and stigmatized their way of life and modern technology disrupted their source of livelihood by making their  traditional skills obsolete.  The loss of their

(This article is based on the research and interview conducted by two Indian-American high-schoolers as part of the Dharma Internship Program 2020. The authors acknowledge the valuable suggestions and help from their mentors and program coordinator) The day I had my first period, I was nervous. A sense of happiness, sadness and confusion all ran through my body. I frantically told my mother what had happened to me. She calmed me down and let me know it was nothing to be afraid of, but something to be happy about. Then we told all our family members, who also rejoiced when

Meet Neha [name changed], a young schoolgirl who starts every morning working as a maid in two different households. Only after that is she able to attend school. For Neha’s family, school is not the first priority because they need the extra 1,000 rupees to support themselves every month. One day, Neha heard about a tutoring program at her school run by volunteers from an organization called Youth For Seva (YFS). Neha worked for weeks, revising her homework and studying for her exams with the help of the volunteers of this organization. That spring, Neha was able to pass her

Climate change and deforestation are very critical issues in our world currently. Billions of trees get cut down each year. This is an even graver issue in remote or rural villages whose only resource for their economy and agriculture are their forests. Such was the case in Baripada, a small village in Maharashtra, India, close to the border of Gujarat. There are only two rickshaws that have the ability to take you there, no buses. There is only one school that children can attend up till fourth grade. The people of Baripada did not farm and there were very few

“Live life like poetry” he told us “People write many poems in a lifetime, but I want to live my life like a poem”.  It was 1996. A young reporter in Delhi had a calling. He decided to move back to his home state, Punjab. Punjab, is known as the breadbasket of India, especially after the Green revolution of the 1960s. The revolution itself was hailed by one and all for the progress in agriculture that it had made and its role in bringing food security in India. But soon a myriad of problems had set in. Around the 1980s,

Ten years ago, rural students in some remote villages in Karnataka had little chance to pursue studies at the university level or leave their traditional village jobs. Year after year, these students would half-heartedly study feeling unmotivated about getting the opportunity to chase their potential. Those who studied vigorously, in an attempt to secure a different future, would only make up a small percentage of all Indian university students. While a lot more needs to be done to make higher education accessible to these students, there has been an admirable endeavor by some social changemakers to address this gap. Today

Imagine the lively scene at an Indian train station with thousands of passengers, the loud signals of trains coming and going, the numerous vendors selling their stuff from chai to fruit salads and newspapers. In all of this hustle and bustle, we may miss the many children who have made this station their home. Yes, it is not uncommon for many runaway children in India to choose these railway stations as their home away from home. It may indeed be depressing to imagine the lives that these children may be living. But it’s not this staggering challenge that we are

It was June 16th, 2013; many villagers in Uttarakhand were going about their day, meeting with family and friends, making food, cleaning, and spending time outdoors. Then all of a sudden, devastating flash flood struck Uttarakhand. 197 people lost their lives due to the destructive flood and thousands more were injured. Entire villages were  wiped out including homes, schools, offices and hospitals. What was lost was not just lives or livelihood but the hope for the future. It was in the aftermath of this calamity that a non profit named Sewa International (or Sewa in short) started working in Uttarakhand.