N. Swamy Bassavanna

large_2_6iugbbf.jpg

medium_2_6iugbbf.jpg

small_2_6iugbbf.jpg

thumbnail_2_6iugbbf.jpg

2_6iugbbf.jpg

N. Swamy Bassavanna is a farmer from Mangala, a
village located right next to Bandipur National Park, where he lives with his
wife and children.
 
 Over the course of six
months, Swamy took photographs of his daily life – his family, neighbours,
work, fields, crops and animals – on the outskirts of one of India’s premier
tiger reserves in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. His photo essay is a part
of a larger collaborative photography project about living with wildlife, and
the sixth in a series of six on PARI
(The first,
 <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/when-jayamma-spotted-the-leopard/">
 When Jayamma spotted the leopard
 </a>
 , was published on March 8, 2017.)

02-DSC_7351.jpg

03-DSCF0126-granny-NSB.jpg

2_1WsRTWK.jpg

05-DSCF0300-elephant_roadCrop-NSB.jpg

06-DSCF0242-crop_raiding-NSB.jpg

07-DSCF0233-laborer-NSB.jpg

08-DSCF0211-crops_on_road-NSB.jpg

09-DSCF0262-rolling-NSB.jpg

10-DSCF0178-tiger_and_cow-NSB.jpg

This work was facilitated by Jared Margulies, in coordination with the Mariamma Charitable Trust, located in Mangala village, Karnataka. It was made possible with the support of a 2015-2016 Fulbright Nehru Student Research Grant, a Graduate Student Association Research Grant from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in-kind support from the Mariamma Charitable Trust, and above all, the participation, enthusiasm and efforts of the photographers themselves. B.R. Rajeev’s help in the translation of the text was invaluable, too. All copyrights for the photo are held by the photographers alone in accordance with PARI’s Creative Commons policies. Any questions about their use or reproduction should be directed to PARI.Related stories:<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/when-jayamma-spotted-the-leopard">When Jayamma spotted the leopard</a> <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/we-have-hills-and-forests-and-we-live-here">‘We have hills and forests and we live here’</a> <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/home-with-the-harvest-in-bandipur">Home with the harvest in Bandipur</a> <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/close-encounters-with-the-prince-of-bandipur">Close encounters with the Prince of Bandipur'</a> <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/that-is-where-the-leopard-and-tiger-attack">That is where the leopard and tiger attack'</a>

'This calf went missing after I took this photo'

‘এই ছবিটা তোলার পর থেকেই বাছুরটা বেপাত্তা’

‘इस फ़ोटो को खींचने के बाद से यह बछड़ा ग़ायब है’

’میں نے جب یہ تصویر کھینچی اس کے بعد ہی یہ بچھڑا غائب ہو گیا‘

‘ମୁଁ ଏହି ଫଟୋ ଉଠାଇବା ପରେ ଏହି ବାଛୁରୀଟି ହଜିଗଲା’

'মই এই ফটোখন লোৱাৰ পিছৰে পৰা দমৰাটো হেৰাই থাকিল'

Mangala

At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.PARI exists to change that.We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.&nbsp;

Donate FAQs


Let’s get you acquainted

Welcome to PARI

All our content is, and will forever be free to consume. If you enjoy our work, you can support us by becoming a volunteer or by donating to help fund our work.

Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

'This calf went missing after I took this photo'

N. Swamy Bassavanna, a farmer from Mangala village, says in this sixth in a series of six photo essays on life in a forest, ‘Everyone should be involved in farming and understand the challenges we face’

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit