Assam
Assam villagers dread wrath of ravaging river
Ahead of the monsoon, fear of displacement lurks amid villagers in Assam’s North Lakhimpur district as the Subansiri river threatens to devour their land and homes yet again.
The ‘queen’ of king chillies in Assam
From growing them commercially to starting a nursery, this woman farmer helps others realise the market potential of bhoot jolokia – one of the hottest chillies in the world.
Tribal woman ushers in organic farming in India’s last village
In Madhupur, a village in Assam close to the Bhutan border, an Adivasi woman’s successful switch to organic farming prompts the entire farming community to follow suit.
Tai Phake couple serves Assam tribe’s history on a plate
The Tai Phake is a community of around 2,000 people who are trying to preserve their identity and heritage with various efforts, serving their unique cuisine is part of that push.
Assam’s wildest jungle safari
Nature lives in its full glory in Dehing Patkai, but illegal logging and coal mining are pushing the virgin jungle to the brink.
Assamese monks on mission to save rare culture and language
Even before the UN declared 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, this Buddhist community of 2,000 people began an initiative to preserve the Tai Phake history, culture and identity by teaching its young to speak, read and write their native language.
Barpeta Satra: Assam’s spiritual hubs beset with falling celibate monk numbers
With families becoming nuclear and small, fewer children are becoming Kewalia Bhakats – monks sworn to celibacy and a strictly austere life at Vaishnavite monasteries.
Assam flood fury leaves high houses on river islands untouched
A simple innovation of building houses on a raised and reinforced earthen platform has spared many village homes on the easily flooded islands on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries
Small water pumps script success story in Assam
A survey conducted in South Kamrup in Assam shows that use of small water pumps for irrigation in an area where groundwater is abundant has resulted in significant increases in earnings for smallholder and marginal farmers
Living with the clockwork floods of Barak River
The state seems to be indifferent to the plight of the large number of people settled in the Barak Valley in southern Assam, and they are left to fend for themselves when the river routinely floods its banks every monsoon
Bodoland families smart under ravages of climate and conflict
A combination of ethnic conflict and climate change has pushed thousands of distressed families in western Assam towards a precarious existence