A lot of times when I visited villages I used to envy the farmers’ lovely houses with kitchen gardens and always dreamed of being able to live in a house like that and grow my own vegetables.

During a casual conversation with my friend, Vasudha, she mentioned that it has been years since she stopped buying leafy vegetables and many other gourds etc., and she grew all of them on her terrace. Till then we were casually trying to do a bit of gardening in the little place we have on our terrace, but after that talk with her, I…

This is my little 2.5 year old niece Medha telling me the name of one of the birds she spots from their kitchen everyday :)

The swaggy tot makes sure to enjoy her morning milk sitting in her balcony and spotting all the birds that visit their place everyday and also checks with Soham if he has seen them!

Scaly Breasted Munias, Purple Rumped Sunbirds, Green Bee Eaters, Brahminy Starlings, Fantails along with the regular crows, peacocks, sparrows etc., are the birds she spots everyday!

It is really a delight to see how she got interested and got her…

Ever since Soham started birding seriously, he gets very passionate when he speaks about birds and their behaviours. His face gets all lighted up when he talks about them! And one thing he just can’t stop himself from marvelling about is this distinct and very fascinating quality of birds, particularly males — their elaborate mating rituals!

Every bird has his own unique way of wooing his mate. Building nests, housekeeping/ cleaning the place, grooming themselves/ changing colours to look more attractive, dancing, getting food, tickling, singing, getting colourful gifts etc., They actually put in days and months and sometimes years…

On the way to the collector’s office from Nirmal bus stand, a quaint cooperative store welcomes you with parrots, peacocks, hoopoes, paalapittas (Indian rollers), egrets and many more birds peeping through the glass walls eagerly waiting to narrate their story — The enchanting tale of a 450 year old handicraft practised by men and women belonging to Naqqashi community of Nirmal district in Telangana.

The making of birds and other toys carved and assembled out of a local soft wood called “poniki chekka” is an arduous task requiring enormous amount of patience and expertise. The toys are made in batches…

The most interesting part of my field visits is undoubtedly my interactions with the many lovely women I meet. One such woman is this 70 year old lady, Rajamma (name changed) I met recently in Vikarabad. Close to 6 feet tall, spine erect, she went around doing all her housework briskly without an iota of fatigue. She mentioned that the death of her husband 10 years ago did scare her about the lonely life ahead but she couldn’t possibly leave her house and go to live in any of her brothers’ homes. Despite her brothers repeatedly asking her to abandon…

I have been associated with Kisan Mitra where I work with a lot of farmers and coordinate with the district officials including the collectors w.r.t the farmers’ rights and entitlements. However as much as I would want to believe that I am working for their rights, a lot of times I tend to fail to convince the farmers that the officials, ministers etc., are there to serve them and that it is their duty to do so and they are paid for it. I try to force the farmers to speak to these people assertively but they only say “Madam…

For a very long time I didn’t really bother about where my clothes came from and who “manufactured them”. But after meeting Harsha and working closely with so many cotton farmers, seeing what the chemical based large scale cotton cultivation has done to them (Most farmers who commit suicide are cotton farmers in Telangana and Maharashtra) and understanding about the intricacies of the fabric, the process of weaving and the lives of weavers, I try to make sure I don’t buy my clothes from the malls or the huge corporate fashion retail chains.

The hand woven organic cotton fabrics coloured…

It was around 8pm in the night. I was sulking as usual about making dinner, when a friend — also Rythu Swarajya Vedika volunteer frantically called me asking me to speak to a suicide farmer’s wife (who is also suicidal) at the earliest. I knew nothing about this lady, but considering the fact that her husband also committed suicide 6 years ago, I didn’t want to delay and instantly called her. Rajitha (name changed) picked up the call and I could hear a lot of noise in the background. I asked her where she is and she said she just…