All Stories

"I had to stop going to school after the 3rd grade because Father could not pay the 4 rupees they had started demanding as fees. And Father was not much of an earner. He loved dancing and drinking....

"When father brought home a new wife, he quit his job looking after the elephants. And because there was no money at home I had to drop school. I decided I was going to be a mahout. That way, I could...

I make mistakes too which my daughters point out and I try to rectify them. So we all are learning from each other. I am learning more from them, than they are from me.

“I was born and raised in the forest amongst tigers, rhinos and elephants. As a kid, hunting birds with my boys was my favourite thing to do. The day I shot a spotted dove and separated it from its...

"Once I got lost in the woods. Father had sternly told me not to venture out of my knowledge. But I was a curious boy and I wanted to see what lay behind the mountains. And I felt I was safe in the...

"My mother died in an accident three years ago. And I cried a lot. When I stopped crying, I asked myself. Why did mother die? And the answer came. It was the bad roads. So when I am old enough, I am...

"Life is like air, it can be the breath we take, it can also be the storm we endure. But it is never still. "

"Without mother's helping hands father's ambition for all of us was incomplete. She does not know much from the brain, but from the heart what she knows has no bounds. Sometimes during dinner, as we...

"My mother has raised me with great difficulties. I look at her and I know she has ignored her desires in life. She lives for us, to see us happy. Because of her sacrifices, I am able to continue...

"He usually calls today, I hope he has not forgotten us."

"It was a difficult decision for me to make. After SLC exams were over all of us boys from the class would meet at the nearby jungle. Many were going to the city to continue with their school. They...

"To not have your own land is a curse. But it is not the earth that rejected us, it is the greed of the people who rule. Even the river waters chose to flood our homes and what little pots and pans...

My patience has run out. So I will be fixing the problem myself, no matter how big. I might be old, but look at my fists, they still have the strength of an elephant.

I take extra care of the girls in my class because not everything they are told at home is right, after all, all homes here are a patriarchy.

This mill I talk about is ancient and is the only source of income for my family. It is because of this mill, I have been able to send my children to school.

I did not know how to use the bathroom, or to cook. I remember watching my relative use the pressure cooker to cook Dal and every time it whistled I felt it was magic.