Gurpreet Singh

medium_image002.jpg

small_image002.jpg

thumbnail_image002.jpg

image002.jpg

A bumpy cacophonous ride, and still smiling in Zariwada, village of Mangrol block, Junagadh district, Gujarat, atop a contraption called the chakada. This vehicle is often seen in rural Saurashtra or in the Kachchh region of Gujarat. It's a unique low-cost ride that is vital to the socioeconomic life of the people in rural parts of the state.

image001.jpg

image005.jpg

image006.jpg

image004.jpg

image007.jpg

image003.jpg

Wheels of the rural Indian West

পশ্চিম ভাৰতৰ এক থলুৱা গাড়ী

دیہی ہندوستان کی ’جُگاڑ‘ سے بنی ’چھکڑا‘ گاڑی

ଗ୍ରାମୀଣ ପଶ୍ଚିମ ଭାରତୀୟଙ୍କ ଚକଗୁଡିକ

পশ্চিম ভারতের এক দেহাতি গাড়ি

Loej

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

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>

Wheels of the rural Indian West

The 'chakada' is part motorcycle, part cart – a patchwork product that's indispensable to rural Saurashtra

Related stories