On January 8, 2025, Bhagyalaxmi Biswal of Vasundhara (an NGO working on Indigenous land rights) and I arrived in Gunduribadi, a village of about 98 families of Kondhs and Dalits in Nayagarh district, Odisha. We were greeted by Chheta Pradhan, the forty-something President of the local Thengapalli group, with a warm smile. As we walked …
Listen to the Thengapalli Women Who Protect the Forest in Odisha Read More »
Since 1999, June is celebrated as L.G.B.T.Q.+ Pride Month to affirm people’s different identities and celebrate their culture and community. In their suffering, denial of their identity, and freedom of expression, the Pride Month is a reminder of the Queer resilience to demonstrate their solidarity and assert their humanity. In his New York Times column …
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact all over the world. While people in the United States are approaching the beginning of the end of the pandemic, it is creating havoc in India. The poor have been affected Disproportionately. Similarly the lives and livelihood of weavers have been devastated. The weavers of Kotpad village and the …
Fabric of Life On the Edge: The Endangered Weavers of Kotpad and Niyamgiri in Odisha Read More »
The sari is uniquely Indian and feminine — a five-meter-long wrap of colorful and vibrant fabric — usually silk or cotton; with synthetics entering the mix in the 20th century — that conveys a woman’s beauty and grace. My earliest memories are of my mother wearing colorful handloom Odisha saris every day. How stunning she …
This year marks a lot of firsts for transgender political activists in the United States. Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride, a Democrat, became the first highest-ranking openly trans official in the country; while Dr. Rachel Levine, a former Pennsylvania health secretary and President Biden’s pick to be assistant secretary of health, stands to be the …
The Indian diaspora comprises around 4.8 million people, according to the United States Census Bureau, 2018. Indians have come a long way since the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, which opened up doors for their higher education and employment opportunities in the United States. In 2014, Indians became the largest immigrant group and are also …
Autumn in America: What Ails Aging Indian Parents Who Have Come Live With Their Children Read More »
Indian Americans with aging parents in India are sandwiched between their responsibility toward them, their own careers and their commitments to their family and social life. Some parents move to the U.S. to stay with their kids, while others don’t. Visiting parents find it difficult to keep themselves busy here, and often feel that their …
Autumn of Their Lives: The Predicament of Aging Parents of Children Away in America Read More »
Navaratri, the nine-day long festival to celebrate the goddess Durga, started on October 17th. It will culminate in the welcoming of Durga, the slayer of Mahishasura, on 25th of the month according to the lunar calendar. The name Durga in Sanskrit means ‘the fortress.’ According to Markandeya Purana, composed in 5thor 6th century C.E., Navratri …
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It is meant to remind ourselves of the gravity of this crime and to raise our voice against it. One important issue which remains neglected is the plight of a particular group of victims — spouses on H-4 visa of the high skilled H-1 B visa holders from India …
Barely 30 kms from Parlakhemundi, Badigam, predominantly a Christianized Saora village, has been lost to the local and state administration. When Annapurna and her University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) students stumbled upon Badigam while visiting Parlakhemundi during their summer field project in 2015, they discovered that this village had no SHGs, no visible education …
