Friendships are an important feature in social and political movements and in civil society work. The emotional bonds, a sense of shared values and histories, and the conviviality that friendships entail are important in building and sustaining communities of solidarity. Prajnya Archives is calling for you to contribute to an online exhibit on ‘Friendship and... Continue Reading →
Vibhuti Patel and the Indian Women’s Movement
This exhibit is dedicated to Vibhuti Patel, prominent feminist and longstanding participant and leading figure in the Indian women's movement. It is made possible by Vibhuti Patel's generous contributions of photos and articles over the years, without which we would not be able to document the practices of the Indian women's movement over the decades.... Continue Reading →
Healthcare Heroes: A New Call for Photo-Narratives
As the world copes with the COVID-19 pandemic and watches with awe as the health-care community goes about its work, we at the Prajnya Archives invite you to celebrate the doctors, nurses and other caregivers and healers you know. Email your photos-with-narratives to [email protected] for inclusion in this special collection. Write "Healthcare Heroes" in the subject... Continue Reading →
Women of Words: New Call for Photo-Narratives
The Prajnya Archives invite you to a visual celebration of the ideas, creativity and voices of women WOMEN OF WORDS August 1-October 15, 2019 Are there women in your family or your circle of friends to whom writing comes naturally and who express themselves most freely through the written word? Send us photos with stories... Continue Reading →
Daughters’ Rally 1986
Daughters' Rally 14/11/1986
‘Eliminate Inequality Not Women’
Janhavi Ashok Bhatt, 14/11/1986
Dr Usha Mohan Leading a Demonstration against sexual harassment
By Vasant Nargolkar, December 1986
Play on violence against women
Play on violence against women, 8/3/1981
Women’s Liberation Song
Singing Women's Liberation Song, 8/3/1987
State Level Rally by the Women’s Liberation coordination Committee
State Level Rally by the Women's Liberation coordination Committee, 8/3/1988
‘Women Are Not Spare Parts for Sale’
'Women Are Not Spare Parts for Sale' demonstration against a Beauty Contest decision, 1986
Photographs of Campaign against sex selection in 1986
Daughters’ Rally 14/11/1986 Janhavi at Daughters’ Rally 14/11/1986 Manisha Gupta at Daughters’ Rally 14/11/1986 Postcard 14-11-1986
4th Doctor Neera Desai Memorial Lecture
Prof. Veena Poonacha, Prof. Nabneeta Dev Sen, Prof. Vasudha Kamath and Prof. Vibhuti Patel at the 4th Dr. Neera Desai Memorial Lecture 23-9-2013 Prof. Vibhuti Patel at IV Dr. Neera Desai Memorial Lecture 23-9-2013 Sonalben remembering Dr. Nag Desai 23/9/2013
Healthcare Heroes: Uma Shree Janani, mental health counsellor
Photo and text submitted by Uma Shree Janani "Uma Shree Janani started her journey of helping women around her by spreading positive words about mental health in social media. Her major focus is on importance of self- care and empowering both men and women with better awareness on mental health. As a mother herself, she... Continue Reading →
Remembering Kalpana Mehta (feminist activist and co-founder of Saheli Women’s Resource Centre): “Writing about Kalpana, writing about the times”
Written by Ranjana Padhi and Laxmi Murthy, who have been associated with the autonomous women’s movement since the mid-1980s and were active in Saheli from around 1986-2006. Posted on August 9, the day Saheli was founded in 1981. There is no cure against mortality, yet there is a lingering sadness and a sense of loss... Continue Reading →
Divya, writer
"Going by the Pen Name #SheWrites, Divya, a corporate professional and an amateur writer and poetess loves to bring out emotions and stories through her content. Her originality and writing style have won her the recognition of one of the Top Writers 2018 at Quora - a global writing platform. Links to her writings :https://www.quora.com/profile/Divya-Sewani?ch=3&share=05028747&srid=6V7j"... Continue Reading →
Vaishnavi Pardeshi, writer
I am 23 years old girl born and brought up in a typical Indian Joint Family (which means among 16 other members of my joint family) in a small town of Maharashtra. Been through all the thick and thin of what living in such family means, with all the enjoyment, festivities and the dramas.I have... Continue Reading →
Ritika Bajaj’s journey with words
Ritika Bajaj always knew her life would revolve around the written word. Her journey with language began when she graduated in English Literature from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and later pursued a masters in English Literature from SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai. In 2002, she started her career as a feature writer in a lifestyle publication... Continue Reading →
Dr. Srividya Sivakumar, Coimbatore-based poet & teacher
This is a story about Dr. Srividya Sivakumar, Coimbatore-based poet & teacher, who has two collections of poetry to her name, The Heart is an Attic (2018, Hawakal Publishers) & The Blue Note (2012, Writers Workshop). This is also the story of my oldest and dearest friend of 30+ years. Our friendship began in words... Continue Reading →
V. Radha, writer in Tamil
"Radha is a fond writer of Tamil language. She loves writing poems and essays on various topics such as Social causes, Political affairs, Devotion, Personal emotions, Nature and so on. Her Tamil language resembles that of Sangam literature Tamil. She posts her works on her Facebook wall." Example of her writing: " அண்டபிண்டத்தின் மறைபொருள்..உண்மையொன்று உறங்குதடாஉள்ளமதைத் தேடுதடாஉள்ளதென்று... Continue Reading →
Pushpa, citizen next door
Pushpa is a widow, aged about 35, engaged in vegetable trade with a self-help group loan, in Natham village, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu When Pushpa lost her husband unexpectedly in an accident, she approached the Raja Rajeswari women self-help group in Natham village through IFDE field coordinator, D. Jayalakshmi for advice and help. Out of... Continue Reading →
S. Ranjani, citizen next door
With self-help group loans, S. Rajani, aged about 30, living in Kundrathur village, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, has developed the milk trade within 3 years. The Moon Self Help Group formed in 2007 with 12 women had been actively functioning. S. Rajani got a loan of Rs.15,000 in 2011 and bought a cross-bred cow. She... Continue Reading →
Sandhya Swamy (IPS), citizen next door
A young and dynamic IPS Officer, freshly inducted into the Indian Police Service, Sandhya has shone through her tireless endeavours directed towards getting into the bureaucracy to serve the society. During her struggling years, she not only set exemplary standards of hard work and enrichment of self but also showed empathy and compassion for the... Continue Reading →
Rinku Mecheri, citizen next door
Rinku Mecheri is the founder of Chennai Volunteers, a social initiative that fosters civic engagement and ensure that volunteers can engage with non-profits in a sustainable and meaningful way . A dynamic web portal, CV partners with over 140 NGOs and institutions across our city today and work towards making our civic society more inclusive. An alumnus... Continue Reading →
Ritika Arora, citizen next door
A young software developer, who exudes compassion for the society and is doing her own bit towards community building by taking up the responsibility of educating her maid’s daughter. She not only teaches the child for free but also participates whole-heartedly in helping the little one excel in extra-curricular activities. She deserves recognition and remembrance... Continue Reading →
J. Mallika, citizen next door
J. Mallika of Manajcheri village, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, aged about 40, who started selling saris 10 years ago, has developed her trade, also rendering voluntary guidance and counselling services to people. Mallika received a loan of Rs.10,000 from Indira Gandhi Self Help Group, Amman Koil Street, Manajcheri village, which was functioning for 12 years.... Continue Reading →
Jayanthi Buruda, citizen next door
"Jayanthi Buruda is the youngest tribal scribe from Odisha who is the first woman Koya journalist to report from conflict areas of Malkangiri. She owes her interest in helping the needy and social work to her farmer parents who inspired her despite their meagre resources. She said she chose journalism as it would help her... Continue Reading →
Vimla Kaul, citizen next door
Guldasta lets children bloom so that their future blossoms Established in 1995, Guldasta owes its existence to the sheer tenacity of Vimla Kaul and her husband late Prof Hari Mohan Kaul. An engineering graduate from BITS, Pilani, Prof Kaul served as Chief Engineer in the Government-run Central Ground Water Board but took voluntary retirement and... Continue Reading →
Meenakshi Ramesh, citizen next door
Seven years in a full time role, and seven more as volunteer, as India's largest NGO - Pratham - which is committed to helping every child in India attend school and learn well. I have worked with teams on helping them budget and plan their cash flows, report in donor-designated formats and in the training... Continue Reading →
Neerja Rai, citizen next door
"She’s my mother. My first teacher, who showed me what it is to practice compassion and empathy towards fellow citizens. When I was a kid, I saw her gathering all the under privileged children in and around our colony and seating them in our drawing room with a copy and pencil each. At the far... Continue Reading →
Citizen next door: entries going up from today!
We have received many entries for our call for photos of women engaged in civic projects and other kinds of community work, but not nearly enough! We welcome more submissions, but meanwhile we will begin posting those we have received so far. Hopefully, many more of you will be inspired to participate once you have... Continue Reading →
Dr. Indumathi Venkatesh of the Freedom Generation
"I was in Trivandum, studying intermediate in the Maharaja’s College for Women. Actually Mountbatten was supposed to come to our college. They had asked me to garland him. But he never turned up. We hoisted the flag, and we were all excited and happy it was independence day. I had also participated in the Quit... Continue Reading →
Anjalai Amma of the Freedom Generation
"My grandmother, Anjalai Amma was in jail for more than four and half years.She gave birth to her last son in the jail itself . My grand father Murugappa and my maternal aunt Leelavathy and her husband Jamadhagni were also freedom fighters.Her biography is included in viii std Tamil text book[second semester book]." Courtesy:... Continue Reading →
Leela Diraviam of the Freedom Generation
Leela Diraviam participated as a freedom fighter in underground work; passing messages and attending meetings shrouded in secrecy. She describes herself as a Gandhian. She said, “On that day, there was no TV. We heard the speech in parliament, that India awakes to life and freedom (sic). As soon as he (Nehru) said that India... Continue Reading →
Supriya Cherian of the Freedom Generation
Supriya Cherian was a college student in Calcutta on Independence Day. She said, “On the 14th, we heard that the 15th was going to be a direct action day. Mr Surrawady was the CM and no one knew what was going to happen. Earlier, in our hostel, we had practiced flag hoisting and decided we... Continue Reading →
Freedom Generation
Today, we begin posting the submissions we received for our call for photos for the Freedom Generation archive. We have received some remarkable stories. We believe there are many more stories out there of women who participated in the events surrounding independence in 1947 in a small or big way. If you haven't responded to... Continue Reading →
We Make It happen: Srikala Ganapathy on running ‘Vedika 2 Empower’
"In 2010, as a Teacher and a Research scholar , I had a burning desire within me to reach beyond my family and reach community . I just brainstormed this idea with my two friends, Deepa and Lalitha. My friends expressed same passion and support and joined my hands in this journey. The discussions gave... Continue Reading →
We make It Happen: Vaishnavi Radhakrishnan on being a female rapper
I first listened to ‘Smack that’ by Akon back in 2006 and went on to listen to it a gazillion times. It contained a rap verse by legendary artist Eminem that caught my attention as I followed it with ease. So I thought to myself why not try a hand at rapping? My rapping skills... Continue Reading →
‘We Make It Happen’: Swapna Kona Nayudu’s story
Swapna Kona Nayudu Job Title: Scholar of Peace Academic Fellow, Women in Security and Conflict Management Practices (WISCOMP), New Delhi, India. Field of Work: Kabul, Afghanistan. Dates: March, 2008. In 2008, I was awarded the Scholar of Peace academic fellowship by WISCOMP. The project was to study the representation of gender in the lower house... Continue Reading →
A new call for stories and photos!
WE MAKE IT HAPPEN: Stories of Women’s Leadership A PRAJNYA ARCHIVES PROJECT TO MARK INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2015 WHEN: FROM MARCH 8 TO APRIL 8, 2015 • Have you been a leader—in school, at play, in the community or in politics? • Do you know women in leadership roles in the public or private sector,... Continue Reading →
Malathi Jaikumar (nee Sundaram), B.A. English Literature, Loretto College, Calcutta, 1963
"My name is Malathi Jaikumar nee Sundaram. I graduated in English Literature - BA Hons from Loretto College, Calcutta in the year 1963. I was the first woman graduate on my mother's as well as my father's side of the family. Writing has always been my passion and I have been writing as far back... Continue Reading →
Malati Manohar Harshey, L.L.B. Jabalpur University, 1966
"My mother, Malati Manohar Harshey (1920-2003) The first woman graduate in our family, she was also graceful, wise and widely beloved. A self-made lady who stood out in her time and set an example for all the women in the family. Mummy was a firstborn child raised to an intellectual but submissive youth in the small town... Continue Reading →