Seeing the Invisible: Understanding the Lives of Women Prisoners in India
“औरत देवी होती है…” I have heard this line countless times growing up, in homes, in communities, in conversations that glorify women as symbols of strength, sacrifice, and purity. But somewhere during my fieldwork as a Swar Fellow, I started questioning, “What happens when this same ‘devi’ does not fit into society’s expectations?” What happens […]
More Than Words: How Appreciation Became My Driving Force
Every person loves appreciation. In fact, everyone seeks it in some form. From a baby waiting for a smile from its mother, to a student hoping for recognition from a teacher… from an employee expecting a “well done” from their boss, appreciation is something that connects us all. I am no different. I put in […]
Walking With the Community A Journey of Trust, Voices, and Small Transformations
When I look back at the last few months of my Swar Fellowship, I realise that the most powerful part of this journey hasn’t been the activities or the reports, it has been the quiet, slow, human process of building trust. As fellows, we enter communities with a project plan, a purpose, and a list […]
How Buying a Phone Taught me about Fieldwork
I haven’t had a phone for the last three months. I know it sounds hard to believe, but that’sthe truth. I’ve been using my tablet for calling and for all my other work. In field conditions,carrying a tab everywhere is not easy at all, and when the Republic Day sale came, I finally decided that […]
THE UNSEEN LABOUR OF WOMEN IN THE MOUNTAINS: THE QUIET STRENGTH OF KUMAON
There is a word in Bangla “স্থিতপ্রজ্ঞা” which means a person who stays calm, balanced or steady no matter what the situation is – good or bad. If I had to describe the woman of the mountains in one word, then it would essentially be this word. Living in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand has […]
MOO-ving Away from the Herd
It started with a simple observation.I visited multiple schools during field visits for my project, and in every school I went to, I saw the same pattern repeat: students copying and asking each other for answers for a survey even after being told that there were no right or wrong answers. My first thought was, […]
Memory Bank of Fellowship- From Fellow to Family
“Which project location will I get?”This question echoed in my mind when I joined the JSW Foundation Fellowship in September 2023. My journey began in Pune, on the auspicious day of Ganapathi Festival—a vibrant, culturally welcome to a path that would transform me deeply. That day, strangers became co-fellows, and soon co-fellows became lifelong friends. […]
What Happens Next?
Not a Plan. Just a Pause. I don’t have a five-year plan.I don’t have a big announcement.What I have is silence. A pause. A moment that feels like standing at the edge of a long road – dusty, uneven, but somehow beautiful. This fellowship wasn’t just a job. It wasn’t just “fieldwork.” It was a […]
Two Years That Changed Everything — But Not the Way I Thought
I came into this fellowship full of dreams, wide-eyed, hopeful, and determined to make a difference. I believed that when your intentions are pure, the world opens up for you. That if you really want to work, you can work, and everything else will find a way. But life didn’t go that way. These two […]
Coming to terms
I was sure I would not do a ‘normal’ job. What is normal I can’t say for sure but have a general idea of how it works. Everyday, 9-5 you sit at a desk and put all your time and some of your effort to make sure that the manager meets their targets and the […]