Nirantar Radio : Your Ear To Ground Realities

When Sarita knocks on Prayas' door, it is not always a problem that she brings. Sometimes, she brings a unique solution which makes one look at the problem differently. In the Episode 3 of "Sarita aur Madam", Krupa recounts an anecdote where Sarita saved the day and refused to bargain while she was at it. 

At TTE, we are very invested in expanding the notion of the field, and bring to life the lives of various people who make ...

We all remember the lockdown. Some remember it like yesterday and others believe it happened a long time ago. But, what did 2020 look like for sex workers and social workers? In the Episode 2 of "Sarita aur Madam", Krupa tells us Sarita's response to the lockdown. 

At TTE, we are very invested in expanding the notion of the field, and bring to life the lives of various people who make a field humane.

In this case, it’s t...

After going to school, our podcast series is going to jail.

At TTE, we are very invested in expanding the notion of the field, and bring to life the lives of various people who make a field humane.

In this case, it’s the social worker who works in prison, and the deep relationships that she forms with those on the other side of the law.

In F se Field, J se Jail, we bring you...

“Baba, how does one become a Bayen (witch)?” Bhagirath asks his father Malinder near the dead lake as the shadow of his estranged mother looms over him. The recollecting of who his mother was and how she was ostracized as a witch from the Dom community in this story by Mahasweta Devi, is the unfolding of the myth of Bayen and the reality of witch-hunt. 

What emerges in the exchange between...

Phulesara’s husband dies within one year of marriage and then she finds a new constant companion: fear. Tune into this special feature of Bolti Kahaniyan: ‘Phulesara Bahu ki Aankh’, which is an audio adaptation of a story originally written by Krityansh in “Samkaaleen Dalit Kahaaniyan (Contemporary Dalit Stories)” an anthology edited by Dr. Kusum Viyogi.

Produced by Sadia...

My workplace is a prison. My client is the prisoner. Who am I? 

There are many kinds of social workers, but the kind that works in prisons is often asked,  "Why would anyone work for prisoners?" "Is my son doing okay? Ask him to come meet me next week." "Madam, there is no vacancy in the shelter home, especially for a mentally disabled woman. Now what to do?"

A social worker spends her days go...

My workplace is a prison. My client is the prisoner. Who am I? 

A social worker spends her days going in and out of prisons, shelter homes, and courts answering these and many more questions. As the person who mediates between the criminal justice system and a woman 'caught' by the system, answering these questions, and making the system legible is a part of her work. 

But what questions does ...

A teacher walks the aisle of the classroom with a stick in his hand, waiting to use it on anyone who falters in their dictation test. Bhisham Sahni opens this scene of a classroom in his story ‘Imla’ where the same teacher when positioned outside the classroom changes his walk and talk. How do the structures of power change around the same teacher?

In this episode of Bolti Kahaniyaan, listen to the Hindi story ‘Imla’ by Bhisham Sah...

The easiest thing to tell a woman in a violent marriage is to just leave. But is leaving always that simple? From financial vulnerabilities to a loss of kinships, to a turbulent clash of hope and fear, to a complex interplay of love and desire, the decision to not leave are also stories that need to be heard.

In this story, a caseworker walks us through her Sunday, that day of the week when she takes her son to visit her hus...

The easiest thing to tell a woman in a violent marriage is to just leave. But is leaving always that simple? From financial vulnerabilities to a loss of kinships, to a turbulent clash of hope and fear, to a complex interplay of love and desire, the decision to not leave are also stories that need to be heard.

In this story, a caseworker who stays in a violent marriage herself - take us through her own samjhauta with herself to make...

What are the bargains we make, the samjhautas we strike, the deals we despair in, to feel safe, to feel loved? In this story, a caseworker from Bundelkhand takes us through the many rooms she has lived in, and asks, which room is mine?

Caseworker's Diary is a series of audio stories, which emerged from the lived experiences of caseworkers in Uttar Pradesh, who work with situations of murder, rape, abduction, child sexual abuse, dow...

In this new episode of Bolti Kahaniyan, Dipta Bhog narrates ‘Hekdi’, a story by writer Vijaydan Detha. This story is taken from the Hindi translation of his anthology ‘Batan Ri Phulwadi’ published by Rajasthani Granthagar.

This story was told by the river to the waves, the waves to the shores, the shores to the winds, the winds to Biiji and by Bijji to us. Bijji, aka Vijaydan Detha, is a folk storyteller in the village and has a tr...

Savarnas don’t know caste—the same way a fish does not know water. When you breathe, see, feel, and thrive within a system, it is difficult to notice it, let alone know it. How does a fish then know water? By starting to know itself, of course.

When Rohan chooses this way to learn about caste, he ends up learning a lot about himself. As Rohan and his friends open up about their experiences of caste, caste moves beyond titles and re...

When Muskan said “Hamare yahaan yeh sab chalta hi nahi hai” (These things aren’t allowed in our areas), we couldn’t help but notice that she said it for feeling love as well as anger. Shubhangani who had joined the zoom call from Kekri, Rajasthan chimed in by saying that she feels pushed around, like a football, by elders. If there is no space to express and feel either love or anger, then what does the heart do? Listen to these ad...

Sahiba learns from Google, calls it her teacher and navigates her everyday—from getting things done to finding about her mental health—on Google. Her questions about the self and measures to take care of that self made everyone on the Zoom call think ‘Main kab badi huyi?’ (When did I grow up?). In this episode, meet Sahiba from Noida who speaks with the wisdom of an oak tree, at the age of 18.

‘Mera Chashma, Mere Rules’, a three-ep...

In feminist organisations and within the academic discourse, we sit with the term ‘safe space’ quite often and roll it in our mouth to reiterate how multifarious and ever changing that term is. But when we asked Muskan and Shomya what it means to them and where they feel the most at home, they responded that these were spaces they have created away from home. 20-year-old Muskan from Samastipur, Bihar and 19-year-old Shomya from Tha...

“Tumhari chahat kya hai? Tum kya chahti ho?” (What do you desire?)

When was the last time we asked an adolescent what they think about their desires? How can we see their lives from their perspective?

Like you, we didn’t know either. So, we decided to meet them online to listen to them with their starry, triangle and heart-shaped Chashma (glasses) on. When we started our zoom call with Muskan, Shomya, Sahiba and Shubhangani with th...

A young girl employs a clever strategy to get her family’s support for higher education. But she soon discovers that her father is one step ahead of her and thus unravels this love–hate relationship between a father and daughter.  

“फ se Field, श se Shiksha” is a series of 10 audio stories coming from the lived experiences and imaginations of education in rural India. How do we look at education outside classrooms? More import...

“Chhoti Bahuuu! Arre o Chhoti Bahu!”—is all one hears in the house from dawn to the end of day. Once a mischievous student, Sundari wears many different hats at home, in public, and at work, but there’s one that wears her out. 

“फ se Field, श se Shiksha” is a series of 10 audio stories coming from the lived experiences and imaginations of education in rural India. How do we look at education outside classrooms? More importantl...