A Father’s Relief: How ₹2,000 Brought Light Back to Our Fields It was morning in a village near Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. My father was sitting at the edge of the charpai, staring at his phone expectantly. His eyes welled up not from sadness, but from relief. “Aaya hai beta… paisa aagaya,” he said, showing me … Read more
Introduction: A Mother’s Quiet Sacrifice In our neighborhood, the Maiya Samman Yojana was received with joy in the year 2022. I would never forget the rainfall that year. Shanti Devi, my new neighbor, a widow aged above sixty, was standing outside her mud house smiling and crying at the same time for she had just … Read more
By Platform News Magazine It was a sticky July afternoon when I first met Meena Devi near the construction site in East Delhi. She was crouched beside a makeshift tent made of old tarpaulin and bamboo poles. Her two children were playing in the dust nearby, their laughter oddly cheerful despite the scorching sun and … Read more