By: Manorama Choudhury I had mentioned visiting Nuapatna, Cuttack, to meet the Maniabandha weavers in an earlier post. Our visit on that day had another purpose too. I along with Dr. Annapurna Pandey, a prof at UC Santa Cruz, and Rajesh, a film director, ventured out one day for Nuapatna. It was a beautiful day fairly warm for the …
By: Manorama Choudhury We can buy almost everything, but not happiness. To truly be happy, make someone else happy. It is said by many, “Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.” We often take many things around us for granted. Modern civilization has undergone a dramatic transformation with modernization, but …
Empowering Women: Planting Seeds of Hope and Change Read More »
By: Dr. Annapurna Devi Pandey, Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Santa Cruz Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist, insists on writing, talking about, and spreading stories of Hope—people tackling what seemed impossible and not giving up. Those stories should have equal time because they give people hope” ( New York Times, 16 March 2024). …
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 »
