All Stories

"I look after the forest. I love the plants, trees and animals who live in the forests. And when I am entrusted with something I try to fulfil my duties with utmost sincerity. How does one eat well,...

"I feel like my life was given to me so that I can serve others. Before marriage, I served my mother and my father. Did not ask them for sweets or new clothes. Just obeyed them without question. Then...

"Hurry, it is our play time." "No wait, we will be on Facebook!"

"Father did not send me to school. He sent me after the animals. My youth was spent doing only that. I got married and I am still running after the animals. Occasionally I find work and that is the...

"At home, there is violence and there are tears and muffled cries. And because I bore children, where I live and eat has become family. Home never is a happy place for me. My marriage was not my...

"It has been almost a year since mother died. I do not know if she died of old age or of illness. Towards the end of her life, she has started eating less. She remained quiet and neglected work. I...

"Six months ago, when my husband left for Kashmir to find work, he gave me 5000 rupees in secret. He slipped the money in my hand and it went unnoticed by the members of the family. He whispered to...

"Sometimes, something takes over my body. Sometimes, something takes over my thoughts. It has been going on from when I was small. When I was fours months old, my elder sister had died. And the...

"I send these two to the nearby government school. I am not sure if there was one when I was their age. No one mentioned school around here back then. I do not think my father’s mind could understand...

"My husband is in India. I do not know the conditions he is working in. In a foreign land, you cannot complain about the sun or the rain. When he called me last time, he told me he had been admitted...

"Sometimes mother finds work and goes away until sundown. When she returns home she hands me the money she has made during the day. She tells me to save it for my son, for when he grows older. For...

"I have seen mother break stones, carry weight heavier than her body and never tire. I have seen her pass out in exhaustion at the end of the day. Even then, she would make sure both my brothers were...

"Both my sons are disabled. That is the source of my everyday worry. I know I cannot change things. Even the doctors couldn't. The medicines did not work nor any sacrifices to the goddess. I sit by...

"From what I have heard, my mother was lynched by a mob. She was branded a 'Boksi'. They say I was just 12 days old. My mother's absence did not affect me because I never knew her presence. Sometime...

"I lost two babies before they were born. My inlaws did not take care of me. I had become too weak to prepare food or fetch water. My suffering was boundless. My body became hollow and my mind...

"Not long after my son was born, my husband got sick. We went to many doctors. They prescribed us bags full of medicines but their promises never came true. Alone, I struggled to feed my children....