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IDR Interviews

IDR Interviews | Bezwada Wilson

A lifelong crusader against manual scavenging, Bezwada Wilson talks about building a Dalit-led grassroots movement to liberate the community from this practice.
by Smarinita Shetty, Sneha Philip | 7 min read
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Bite-sized stories from the people closest to the action.

Agriculture
Photo

If the rains don't stop
by Simit Bhagat
Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra
Agriculture

When merit determines your credit
by Sanjiv Phansalkar
Jalgaon district, Maharashtra
Health

A balanced diet?
by Jeetendra Patnaik
Rayagada district, Odisha
Livelihoods
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Catching fish
by Dinesh Suresh Barap
Mumbai Suburban district, Maharashtra

Photo of the month

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Bangalore is burning

January 2020 | Avijit Michael, director of Jhatkaa (jhatkaa.org), on a fact-finding mission around Bangalore on the practice of garbage burning, and how it causes catastrophic changes to the air quality. Photo: Hari Adivarekar
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What's in a name?

December 2019 | Even though neighbouring villages also comprise of Adivasi communities, this village in Ganjam district, Odisha, is called 'Adivasi Colony', named after the community that migrated down from the hills to settle here. Photo: Anushka Dalal
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Rural cartography

November 2019 | Women from the Village Organisation (VO) in Koimari (Rangjuli block, Assam) carried out a 'resource mapping' of their village, a two-day exercise facilitated by professionals from the development organisation SeSTA. The houses in this map are colour-coded to reflect which ones have piped water, sanitation, and so on. Having this information makes them better placed to demand improvements from their local government. Photo: Saahil Kejriwal
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Teesta and Rangeet

October 2019 | The rivers Teesta and Rangeet are named after two river-spirits who challenged each other to a race down the hills. The Lepcha people of Sikkim consider the race's finish line, the confluence of the two rivers, to be a sacred site. Newlyweds are taken here, and people wish them a life as happy and prosperous as the two river-spirits. Photo: Zarir De Vitre
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Classroom learning

September 2019 | In a school in Dharwad district, Karnataka. Photo: Deepta Sunil
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Fast fashion

August 2019 | Worn for ceremonies and by elders of the Toda tribe, a shawl like this takes more than three months to complete. ‘Slow fashion’—where the experience and effort that goes into making a garment is recognised and respected, is quickly losing out to fast fashion. Photo: Native Picture
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Against the grain

July 2019 | Nagaland is the largest producer of maize among all the north eastern states in India—it is grown in every district of the state, and is its second most important food crop after rice. Recently, however, the crop has come under attack by the Fall Armyworm, a pest that has devastated maize fields in neighbouring states, and preliminary calculations estimate that it has affected nearly 1,70,000 hectares of maize crop across the country. Photo: Dhruvank Vaidya
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The peripheries

June 2019 | The Fakhruddin Gutta hills, on the outskirts of Hyderabad are one of the few sites with rich biodiversity left in the city, but environmentalists are concerned about the quarrying taking place here. The destruction of nature to further urban development is a major concern in the midst of our climate crisis. Photo: Goutham Raj KJ
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Nomadic life

April 2019 | Shivam, a blacksmith from Madhya Pradesh working in Magadi, Karnataka: “There are many blacksmiths in MP. Everyone travels to different parts of the country. We got here about a year ago and we’ll leave after Shivarathri. We plan from the time Ragi (finger millet) is ready for harvest till the end of Shivarathri.” “That’d be October to March?” “We don’t know the English calendar, we travel according to the seasons and to the festivals and that’s how we know what tools are used when.” Photo: Native Picture
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Faith in water

March 2019 | Kamala, a tribal woman (Bangalpadi, Nilgiris): “Why is there a temple next to the spring?” “God is important and so is water. There is no point having a temple without water or water without a temple, both are as important. We survive because of the spring water. I’m happy that the younger generations are taking good care of the springs. People from nearby hamlets come here for water during summer months. There is no God without water and there is no water without God.” Photo: Native Picture
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