IN VIDEOS
Punjab women weave ‘rug’ to riches story
Once a part of every Punjab household, durries (rugs) and khes (thick bedspreads) have been pushed out of use by machine-made furnishings. A brand born in a village is now reviving these traditional handloom products.
Odisha women earn lakhs by cooking patua from veggie peels
Most of us may discard the nutrient-rich vegetable peels as waste, but the rural women of Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts in Odisha are now using them to prepare the traditional patua dish and earn a living.
Pad perfect – championing menstrual hygiene
Two humble initiatives in Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir are making a difference in the lives of thousands of rural women by providing them easy access to sanitary napkins.
How to pluck sangri from khejri tree
The wonder tree of Thar desert, Khejri has many uses. In this video we see how the locals pluck sangri from the tree to make Rajasthan’s favourite dish - ker sangri.
The critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB)
Earlier present in the whole of western India, the GIB is now a critically endangered species with only about 100 birds remaining. They face threat to their habitat due to green energy, poaching, industrialisation and mining.
The last water-run flour mills of Kashmir
In Kashmir, a few elderly people are keeping a legacy alive by running traditional water flour mills. However, they say, they are the last ones in their families who are associated with this profession.
Words of wisdom from rural mothers
From inculcating healthy food habits to daily discipline, parenting sure has changed over the years. These grandmothers from Indian villages share nuggets of wisdom that their vast experience has taught them.
Making red weaver ant chutney
For years, red weaver ant has been an integral part of diet among the tribal communities in North Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district that has ensured their dietary diversity and food security. During lean season, when there is no standing crop for harvest, tribals often make a living out of selling it in the weekly market.
Climate change looms over Udupi sarees
The production of Karnataka's acclaimed Udupi sarees has been impacted by climate change. Weavers complain about the rice gruel starch, an important ingredient of production, drying up too quickly as the temperatures soar in Dakshina Kannada district.
Racing with the tides- Earth Day
Biswajit Sahu, a fisherman, has been collecting artefacts while fishing to create a museum preserving the history of the Sunderbans, battling climate change and the rising sea.
Mewa Rani’s journey for a healthier Haryana
India has over a million local community health workers in the country. In Malab village of Nuh district of Haryana, Village Square met 32 years old health worker Mewa Rani at an Anganwadi centre.
The state of cattle bell makers of Jharkhand
For years people have been tying bells around the neck of their cattle. Along with beauty, it makes finding cattle in the forests easy. Cattle bells were once a symbol of prosperous rural life, but the use of machines, and dwindling cattle numbers, have reduced the tinkling of the bells.
Kashmiri artisans like none other
Started in 2010 by three differently-abled brothers, Special Hands of Kashmir is an organisation employing 40 specially-abled artisans in Budgam district of Central Kashmir. The group works to preserve the traditional Sozni embroidery craft of Kashmir. They have displayed their art in different exhibitions across India. Watch their story.
A day in the life of India’s rural women
On the occasion of International Women's Day, we show you vignettes from the lives of four village women from different walks of life and how they are contributing to the society every day. They share their dreams, aspirations and hopes with us. What is life like in rural India for women? What are their challenges and aspirations? How are they making a difference?
Playback time for Punjab’s tumbi
Tumbi - Punjab's favourite music instrument was an integral part of Punjabi folk music. Created from tumba (a similar bigger instrument) post partition by Lal Chand Yamla, tumbi has traversed a long journey. After the introduction of electronic music, tumbi's craze declined. Two men in Punjab, Vijay Yamla and Jai Ram, are doing their bit to keep this traditional music instrument alive in the hearts of people. While Jai Ram is among the few craftsmen left in Punjab who continues to make tumbi, Vijay Yamla (grandson of Lal Chand Yamla or Yamla Jatt) is fusing its tunkar with electronic music to appeal to the younger audience.
Get a taste of Meerut’s sweetest gur
A little beyond the Uttar Pradesh city of Meerut is a village called Dabathwa where you will find acres of sugarcane and many women entrepreneurs who make and sell pure ghee and gur using traditional recipes. In this video, we cover the story of one such woman entrepreneur - a feisty Jogindra Devi who single-handedly runs her deceased husband’s gur business in a patrilineal Uttar Pradesh.
‘Ecological threat to next generation’, warn Chipko leaders
The women of Uttarakhand hugged trees to protect them from being axed in what is known as the Chipko movement. Fifty years since, how green is India?
Everyday struggles of a widow in Punjab
Life for Kulwinder Kaur of Pathan Nangal village in Amritsar district of Punjab, has never been easy. Widowed early, bringing up children on her own, looking for firewood and doing all sorts of jobs to run her family – her life is a grim reminder of the everyday struggles of many in rural India.
Heaven’s the limit for Kashmir’s Khatamband ceiling woodwork after years in near-hell
A luxury of the medieval elite, the handcrafted and eclectic craft of wood-carved ceilings almost died out in the face of political and economic exigencies, but a few artisans keep Kashmir’s 400-year-old legacy alive.
Porters at Attari-Wagah border bear the brunt of India-Pakistan trade curb
Penury and debt stare at porters working at Attari-Wagah border as bilateral trade is hit hard by rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama terrorist attack.