“The tribal world and the tribal way is complete in itself”: Mahasweta Devi (1926-2016)

Quoted from “Swearing by Mahasweta” by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, The Hindu, August 7, 2016 | Backup (PDF, 450 KB) >> Ms. Devi had cast off the trappings of the middle class she was born into and chose to live simply, often roaming the country with her subjects as she did research. In more than 100 novels and short … Read more

Adivasis’ world view: A truly sustainable lifestyle – Comment

Adivasi people: proud not primitive | Read the full article >> […] Defining what’s special about India’s adivasi or indigenous people is complicated. People, mostly anthropologists and human rights defenders, who know adivasis and have worked closely with them, also tend to be accused of romanticizing tribal peoples. Yet you can begin to understand what’s special … Read more

Audio & video | Alternatives offered by India’s grassroot movements: Regenerating ecosystems with insights from modernity

“The world is a living tapestry … As the weave of life is torn apart in one place, the threads unravel in another,” says author and physics professor Vandana Singh, acknowledging humanity’s interconnectedness with the planet — and the uncertain future we face if we don’t protect it. Reading an excerpt from her latest work … Read more

Video | Health and the nutritional value of indigenous grains, seeds and millets: “The tribal food basket has always been ­diverse and nutritious”

Excerpt from “Rage Of A Silent, Invisible Killer Called Malnutrition – Why Shining India Is In Grip Of An Epic Calamity” by Damayanti Datta | Read the full article >>Despite designing the world’s earliest and largest schemes on hunger and malnutrition, having surplus grains and food wastage, millions of Indians go to sleep hungry every … Read more

Serving endangered languages, denotified and nomadic Communities: Ganesh Devy on the need for a “sustainable economic and social base in the homeland”

A Nomad Called Thief by Ganesh Devy | Homepage >> A collection of essays on Adivasis. Tribal groups (adivasis) in India have often been excluded, marginalized and oppressed by ‘mainstream’ society. In many ways this exclusion, marginalization and oppression is fostered by the way in which ‘mainstream’ society looks at the adivasis – as exotic, dangerous, … Read more