Stories from the grassroots | Thoughts on development | Lessons on leadership
Earlier this year, two communities – Parivara and Talawara were added to the list of Scheduled Tribes. These communities numbering close to 11 lakh has further resulted in marginalizing the shrinking numbers of forest dwelling indigenous communites.… Continue reading
Manikarnika (name changed both for privacy and security reasons) was a lively sixteen year old studying in a college near her village which was located 200 kms from the state capital of a eastern state of India. Being a tribal girl was not easy and she was lucky to have a father who ensured that all his four children got a decent education.… Continue reading
Traditional thinking associates leadership with authority and it is intuitively interpreted as having the power to lead people and organizations to bring about the change that one desires. Occupying positions of authority reinforces this understanding and people start relying more and more on the ‘power’ that goes with the position.… Continue reading
When one reads the several tweets that are flooding the social media space about the ongoing political drama in the state of Karnataka, one worries on how people are interpreting ‘Leadership’ and how they see the state being led.… Continue reading
Read this article that appeared in the Star of Mysore dated 17, June 2019
Find the article below:
A few months ago, the Chhattisgarh government made an announcement that it will now provide 35 kg rice at the doorstep of each tribal family. A thousand kms away, the Karnataka government was grappling with solving the issue of land that the tribals from Diddadahalli had occupied and were claiming as their rightful due.… Continue reading
Recently, I was attending a program at the MRA campus at Panchgani in Maharashtra. Here, away from the din and noise of Pune, the nearest large city, around 93 young indigenous tribal youth from different parts of India were huddled together for a week.… Continue reading
It was the year 1989 and was around the time that I was slowly beginning to understand the indigenous way of life. These were also some of the best years of my life and I cherish the memories of my association with some of the elderly tribal chieftains of Heggadadevanakote. … Continue reading
Puttamma, a 60-year-old Kadukuruba tribal from the Bandipur forests of Karnataka was excited. She had just completed a fascinating 2-day journey to reach distant Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. This was not only the first time that she was traveling anywhere outside the district of Mysuru but was also her first time on a train.… Continue reading
Working with indigenous tribals has been one of the most fulfilling things in my life. From a small clinic at Brahmagiri to all the diverse projects that SVVM is running, it has been a very enriching experience till now. I have always maintained that development has to be about an expansion in the human and social capital of people and communities, for it to be sustainable and meaningful. … Continue reading