Tag: Small Change NGO

  • Have The Time Of Your Life And Give Back

    PEOPLE take up all kinds of crazy challenges to raise funds for charity. Climbing the Great Wall of China, running marathons, jumping out of aeroplanes – or even travelling from Alaska to India to drive an auto-rickshaw 3,000km from Kochi to Jaisalmer! This is what is universally known as a “charity challenge”. The point of…

  • What Standard Tests Don’t Tell Us About Learning

    By NILESH NIMKAR  —- THE brick kilns of Sonale were bustling with activity: children running around, indigenous technology being used, and lots of mathematics being done. I recently went there after a teacher from the nearby primary school approached our nonprofit, Quest, because the children living there were simply not learning. The concern was, if they…

  • Monsoon: A Blessing And A Curse

    MONSOON. For some that word means fleeing to drier, sunnier lands for the summer. For others, it inspires happiness as it means cooler weather and plentiful rain.  80% of India’s total rainfall takes place between June and September as the southwest monsoon moves across the country.  India is lucky to have such a season as…

  • Take Pride In Inclusive India

    YOU may be aware that June was Pride month. Originating in the US, the month not only stands as a time to promote awareness and acceptance of people who identify as LGBTIQ+, but also commemorates the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, demonstrations in New York City in June 1969 that are considered to be the…

  • Small Talk With Urvija Sanghvi

    CHANGE leaders do great things, and often that is all we know about them. Here we want to get a different glimpse of the personalities that constitute the development space. Every month we get one leader to answer four questions, not necessarily about their work, but about themselves. This week we catch up with Urvija…

  • 5 Simple Ways To Go Zero Waste

    ZERO wastage seems like a mammoth task for many – the term itself creates that intimidation. Don’t worry, by zero waste we all mean close to zero waste. To be part of the sustainable movement is surprisingly pocket-friendly and easily implementable, it just takes dedication towards the cause. Start by observing the amount of trash…

  • Safe Spaces To Talk About Taboo Topics

    GOOGLE gender, sexuality, violence, and harassment. What you’ll find is a shocking number of articles and figures about these disturbingly commonplace issues. Last year, the global #MeToo movement shook India too and created a sense of community – especially among women – to break the silence around these socially uncomfortable subjects. According to UN Women,…

  • Small Talk With H.R. Rajendra

    CHANGE leaders do great things, and often that is all we know about them. Here we want to get a different glimpse of the personalities that constitute the development space. Every month we get one leader to answer four questions, not necessarily about their work, but about themselves. This week we catch up with H.R.…

  • Who’ll win? Astrology, Tarot, Opinion Polls

    IF you had a superpower, what would it be? I think more than a few of us would choose the ability to see into the future. Today we have so many fields based on predictions and forecasts – the stock market, weather, economics, and perhaps most pertinent to most of us – politics. Elections don’t…

  • Of Limited Means But Unlimited Generosity

    By Kushal Biswas —- WHEN it comes to giving and generosity, the first name that springs to my mind is that of Timothy babu, even though I haven’t seen him in decades and I don’t even know what his full name is. When I think of him now, he reminds me of a Quentin Blake…

  • Odisha: The Balm Before The Storm

    WHEN the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani hit coastal Odisha on May 3 – with a wind speed of more than 200km per hour and gusting speed of 240km per hour – it was a déjà vu moment for the state and its people. But, with a critical difference. On October 29, 1999, when the…

  • Small Talk With Sanghamitra Iyengar

    CHANGE leaders do great things, and often that is all we know about them. Here we want to get a different glimpse of the personalities that constitute the development space. Every month we get one leader to answer four questions, not necessarily about their work, but about themselves. This week we catch up with Sanghamitra…

  • Youth Employability…Beyond Job Placements

    By PRIYA AGRAWAL —- LATA’s expression that day was a mix of delight, surprise, disbelief and pride. She had made it through the Marriott interview. She could not wait for Monday and her first day of work. Among 423million young adults in India, Lata used to be one of the 13.2% of youth her age…

  • Every Vote Cast Is One More Counted

    ELECTIONS. You may be thinking, “Is it that time already AGAIN? What is the point? It doesn’t matter who’s in control … my life doesn’t change based on who’s in Lok Sabha.”   But it does matter. A lot. India’s 2019 polls are the world’s largest election. “Somewhere inside of all of us is the…

  • Small Talk With Nalini Shekhar

    CHANGE leaders do great things, and often that is all we know about them. Here we want to get a different glimpse of the personalities that constitute the development space. Every month we get one leader to answer four questions, not necessarily about their work, but about themselves. This week we catch up with Nalini…

  • Museums Can Teach Our Children Well

    By TEJSHVI JAIN —- IN 2012, I was at the V&A London (the world’s largest museum for decorative arts and design) for a training programme. This trip was a real eye opener for me, despite my experience as assistant curator at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru. For the first time I saw how a…

  • Why Indians Don’t Seek Help For Depression

    THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that India is the country with the highest prevalent rates of depression in the world. Over 56million people suffer from depression and an additional 38million suffer from anxiety-related disorders. These numbers have deep implications and make it very likely that someone you know is suffering from a depressive…

  • Indian Weddings Break Traditional Customs

    WHEN we think about weddings, we often think about traditions – many of which could do with a reboot in this day and age of women’s equality.   We’re happy to report how some Indians are smashing the patriarchy while continuing to celebrate their love, traditions and cultural heritages. Just a couple of months ago,…

  • Small Talk With Fr. Paul Thomas

    CHANGE leaders do great things, and often that is all we know about them. Here we want to get a different glimpse of the personalities that constitute the development space. Every month we get one leader to answer four questions, not necessarily about their work, but about themselves. This week we catch up with Fr.…

  • Social Sector’s Failure To Talk About Failure

    By ROHINI NILEKANI —- A LOT of ink is spilled, and awards are bestowed celebrating the success of the social sector, and there is much to celebrate. But the truth is, if innovation is essential to the ultimate achievements of the sector, we should spend less time on success, and more time on failure. We…

  • Small Talk With Samir Chaudhuri

    CHANGE leaders do great things, and often that is all we know about them. Here we want to get a different glimpse of the personalities that constitute the development space. Every month we get one leader to answer four questions, not necessarily about their work, but about themselves. This week we catch up with Samir…

  • Sex, Death And Charity

    By SARA ADHIKARI —- STRUNG together, these three words seem like an odd combination or, at best, click bait. But in my experience, all of them are linked by the squirm factor that private conversations on the subjects inevitably evoke. Take my dearly departed dad, for instance, or Baba as I called him. As a…

  • Art And Food Are Ingredients For Peace

    ART has long connected us to one another and been used to strengthen communities across cultures and the globe. As, Alberto Ibargüen, the president of  Knight Foundation explained at a 2018 symposium on philanthropy, culture and the arts: “Art binds. Culture generates social capital and strengthens a community’s character. Art brings people together physically – at…

  • Small Talk With George Pulikuthiyil

    CHANGE leaders do great things, and often that is all we know about them. Here we want to get a different glimpse of the personalities that constitute the development space. Every month we get one leader to answer four questions, not necessarily about their work, but about themselves. This week we catch up with George…

  • India Is Now A Plastic Warrior

    PLASTIC. Designed to be an inexpensive, durable alternative to other materials, such as pewter, glass or ceramics that dent or break. No one anticipated the ramifications of a synthetic material that could seemingly last forever, would actually last forever. As scientists innovated the composition and society found more and more uses for the material, its…