Binaifer Bharucha

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Walk in the fields, or swim in the lake, watch the light slant across
the skies and the colours change, keep your ears to the ground….listen. And hear
people speak of their lives and loves, of joy and deep loss. Hold these
emotions in a photograph, transport the reader back to the body of that place
and the face of its people. 
















These six photo essays take you
into the heart of rural, urban and small town India. The images of a dying art
form and unending hunger in West Bengal, queer joy and resistance in Himachal
Pradesh, marginalised communities documenting their own experiences in
Tamil Nadu and a folk dance with people somersaulting to drum beats in
coastal Karnataka, tell a myriad stories in a hugely diverse India – across landscapes, communities and
livelihoods. The
camera is a powerful tool, a source of self-reflection that is finally turned
outwards, to capture injustice, and perhaps even be a path for its redressal. The stories below will ignite a leap of the
heart or punch you in
the gut.

<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/my-students-tell-their-stories-through-photos/">‘My students tell their stories
through photos’</a> by M. Palani Kumar

Holding a camera for the first time are children of sanitation workers, 
fisherwomen and others in classes and workshops by PARI photographer M. 
Palani Kumar, teacher with a camera.

M. Palani Kumar

Suganthi Manickavel

P. Indra

<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/fish-turned-me-into-a-good-photographer/">&#39;Fish turned me into a good
photographer&#39;</a>  by M. Palani
Kumar

A PARI photographer writes about growing up in a community of skilled lake fishermen, and their daily lives.

<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/hunger-in-the-belly-of-the-beast/">Hunger in the belly of the beast</a> by Ritayan Mukherjee

On August 9, International Day of the World&#39;s Indigenous Peoples, a 
profile of the Sabar Adivasi community in West Bengal. Although 
denotified 70 years ago, they continue to face stigma, and struggle and 
starve, pushed to the margins. They are heavily dependent on shrinking 
forests for their food and livelihood.

Ritayan Mukherjee

<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/ma-bonbibis-pala-gaan-under-threat/">Ma Bonbibi’s pala gaan under
threat</a> by Ritayan Mukherjee

Bonbibi pala gaan is among the many musical dramas performed by locals 
in the Sundarbans. Falling incomes have pushed many to migrate, leading 
to a dearth of artists to enact this folk theatre.

<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/in-dharmshala-marching-with-pride/">In Dharmshala: marching with
pride</a> by Sweta DagaHimachal Pradesh&#39;s first Pride march advocated for the rights of the queer 
community, drawing many from villages and small towns in the state.

Sweta Daga

<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/pili-vesha-folk-art-dancing-to-the-beat/">Pili vesha folk art: dancing to the beat</a> by Nithesh Mattu

This vigorous folk dance is performed by young people in coastal 
Karnataka. Organised and funded locally, they are integral to 
festivities held around Dussehra and Janmashtami.

Nithesh Mattu

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In 2023: Writing with light

سال ۲۰۲۳: تصویروں کے ذریعے بیان کردہ اسٹوریز

2023-ல் ஒளியால் எழுதப்பட்ட எழுத்துகள்

2023: ਤਸਵੀਰਾਂ ਸੁਣਾਉਂਦੀਆਂ ਆਪਣੀ ਹੀ ਕਹਾਣੀ

୨୦୨୩ର ଆଲୋକ ପ୍ରସାରୀ ରଚନା

2023- പ്രകാശംകൊണ്ടൊരു എഴുത്ത്

2023: ಕತೆ ಹೇಳುವ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು

साल 2023: तस्वीरों में बयां होती कहानियां

2023 માં: લખીએ લઈ તેજ લિસોટો

साल 2023: फोटू कहय अनगिनत कहिनी

साल 2023: पारी के कहानी, फोटो के जबानी

২০২৩: আলোর আখরে বাঙ্ময় ছবি

বৰ্ষ ২০২৩ত পাৰিৰ ছবিয়ে কি ক’লে

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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;

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ہمارے بارے میں جانیں

پاری میں آپ کا خیرمقدم ہے

گے۔ اگر آپ کو ہمارا کام پسند ہے، تو آپ ہمارے رضاکار بن کر ہمارا تعاون کر سکتے ہیں یا ہماری مالی مدد کر سکتے ہیں، تاکہ ہم اپنا کام جاری رکھ سکیں۔

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>

In 2023: Writing with light

Thousands of images telling myriad stories appeared through the year on PARI. Here are some which took us right into the pulsing heart of rural India

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Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

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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

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The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit