by Keya Gupta August carries some of the most important dates of the Indian Freedom Struggle. On 8th August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the call for the Quit India Movement, pushing the country towards its final phase of struggle against British rule. On 12th August, the world observes International Youth Day, a fitting occasion to […]

By Shree Sauparnika V.  When we think of the Guru-Shishya Parampara, our minds usually paint a very specific picture: a wise sage with a long white beard, sitting under a massive banyan tree, while students sit in a neat circle memorising verses. But that is only one small chapter of a much grander story.  In ancient and medieval India, […]

by Keya Gupta High up in the Ziro Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, the Apatani tribe has spent generations cultivating paddy in the mountains. Every July, before the paddy has fully ripened, the Apatanis pause their labour to celebrate Dree, a festival that asks the gods to keep pests, disease and hunger away from their fields and homes.  The legend of the Dree Festival starts with Abotani, the […]

by Shree Sauparnika V.  As the first monsoon rains sweep across Goa, its landscape undergoes a dramatic transformation. Dry fields turn a lush green, rivers swell, and the scent of wet earth fills the air. It is against this vibrant backdrop that Goa celebrates São João, one of its most distinctive and high-spirited festivals. Observed annually on June 24, this […]

by Keya Gupta Every year on 5th June, the world pauses to mark World Environment Day, a reminder to look closely at the natural world and our place within it. Across India, many communities have long practised their own forms of environmental ethics through festivals, rituals and everyday traditions that treat trees, groves and landscapes not as resources alone, […]

by Nidhi Murthi In January 1967, Goans stood in long lines, waiting to cast a vote that would change their future. It was the moment when the people of Goa were given the choice to either merge with Maharashtra or remain a Union Territory. Their choice eventually led to Goa being vested with full Statehood. […]

by Shree Sauparnika V.  On Buddha Purnima, we celebrate the three most significant events in the life of Gautama Buddha: his birth, enlightenment (Nirvana) and passing (Parinirvana or complete enlightenment). His journey toward truth did not begin in a single lifetime. It is chronicled through the Jataka Tales, a vast collection of over 500 stories […]

by Nidhi Murthi ‘Ecology is a permanent economy.’ – Sunderlal Bahuguna In the Himalayan forests of Uttarakhand, a group of women once stood between axes and the trees that had sustained them most of their lives. This gave birth to the ‘Chipko Movement’ — one of India’s most important environmental movements. On this World Earth […]