The vibrant spectrum of culture, tradition, and people has always drawn me in, keeping me anchored to explore, understand, and embrace India’s variety. My educational background in Town and Country Planning provided me with the perspective to accumulate and assimilate many elements of society, economics, environment, and administration to complement each other.

My first experience in the development sector was as a Young Professional for the SPM Rurban Mission with Panchayat and Rural Development, GoMP. This project was amalgamation of spatial planning and holistic rural development. Working with different stakeholders, including samajik sangathan, SHGs/VOs, PRIs, village level committees, and district HODs, provided real-time insights on a variety of issues. I was still much more focused in physical and infrastructure development in my early years.

Rurban’s mission was to deliver urban facilities to villages without compromising the essence (Soul) of the villages (gaon ki aatma). While exploring, ‘gaon ki aatma’ I began documenting history, custom, culture, rituals, and other intangible characteristics of our villages, in order to grasp what is the essence of the community. That was the day I embarked on a new journey to learn more about rural India.

In recent years, I have worked on a variety of projects, including social infrastructure, vernacular construction, enhancing handicraft, village basic infrastructure, rural tourism, education, health, nutrition, spatial inventory creation, and a few other components. My motivation for working in the development sector is first and foremost ‘Gandhi ji ka Jantar’, and secondly, to contribute and give back a little bit to the society that has made me who I am today.

This fellowship will be a significant chapter in my life since it complements my previous work while filling numerous gaps and helping me in my growth as a developmental professional. Working with administration and society at the same time has increased my exposure and learning. This chance to work in Sukma, Bastar area, is forcing me to learn more and reminds me that we must constantly go to the roots for answers and find ways forward.