Tagore’s Santiniketan, “an Abode of Learning Unlike Any in the World” – West Bengal

Santiniketan’s bell – Photo © Ludwig Pesch Located about 158 km northwest of Kolkata in Bengal’s rural hinterland, Santiniketan embodies Rabindranath Tagore’s vision of a place of learning that is unfettered by religious and regional barriers. Established in 1863 with the aim of helping education go beyond the confines of the classroom, Santiniketan grew into … Read more

Tribal Politics – adivasi culture, language, and religion in Encyclopedia of India

Tribal Politics The “tribal” peoples or adivasis of India, according to the 2001 census, constitute roughly 8.1 percent of the country’s population, some 83,6 million people, classified under 461 different communities. They occupy a belt stretching from the Bhil regions of western India through the Gond districts of central India, to Jharkhand and Bengal, where … Read more

“Climate change forces us to redefine ‘rights’”:  Droupadi Murmu – 15th President of India

I am glad to be participating in the Human Rights Day celebration organised by the National Human Rights Commission. It is an important occasion for the whole of humankind, as it was on this day in 1948 that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, also known as UDHR. […] … Read more

TribalConnect Magazine: A call for acknowledging contributions to society, nature and the environment

TRIBAL NOISE | 09 Excerpt: Isak Munda From off beaten tracts to be unbeaten– Grace Nivedita SithaRaman (Wunn) This is the day when i shall hold you in wonder! When I disclose to you a tribal labourer. In the green corner of the tribal hamlet of hilly Sambalpur, In the state of Jaganatho – Odisha, … Read more

Lighting up villages with solar power and doing other challenging things: Kudumbashree Adivasi women’s group of Edamalakudi – Kerala

The adivasi women of Edamalakudi, Kerala’s remotest panchayat, have formed a headload workers’ group, helped light up their villages with solar power, and practice group farming in wild elephant territory. All are Muthavan tribals. Almost all are members of Kerala’s extraordinary anti-poverty and gender justice movement – Kudumbashree. They are also neighbours of Chinnathambi, the … Read more