Stories
Passionate about bamboo – “the world’s panacea”
Naina Febin’s childhood fascination with the grace and power of bamboo turned into a passion. She believes the strong plant, known to stop soil erosion, is vital for her home state of Kerala, which is becoming increasingly battered by floods. Here is Naina Febin talking about planting over 2000 bamboo saplings wherever she finds the space.
“They are all my children”
Raised by a widowed mother who was on a mission to care for abandoned children, Neibanuo Angami carries on her mother’s calling to run their orphanage in Kohima, Nagaland. From begging for food as a child to letting her mother sell her only gold chain, Angami helped her mother nurture the children. Here Neibanuo Angami talks about her journey in her own words.
The last woman Kurumba tribal artist
Making paint from plants in the forest, Kalpana captures the stories of her people with each brush stroke. As the last woman of the five artists of her tribe left, she’s desperate to keep her art and culture from fading away. Here is Kalpana Balasubramanian’s story in her own words.
“Our lands used to lay wasted”
Sometimes all it takes is a smart woman to know a good idea when she hears one. This is the story of Shanku Ben, one of the Gujarati women who convinced the men in their village of Mubarakpura to use a special pipe to harvest rainwater and turn their saline, clay soil into a fruitful field. Here is Shanku Ben's story in her own words.