The Far Valley

Through the seasons in a village in Melghat

01 August 2014
VIVEK SINGH
VIVEK SINGH

[I]

"KORKU MADARCHOD!” the conductor swore, “Just squatting down wherever he found a spot.”

The abuse came without warning, followed by a hushed silence in the overcrowded bus headed into Melghat, a remote region of forested hills and river valleys in Maharashtra’s northern Amravati district. Crouched on the doorstep, an old man, his eyes lowered with embarrassment, struggled to grip his walking stick and raise himself onto his legs, which were too weak to carry his equally frail upper body.

Anosh Malekar is an award-winning journalist based in Pune, who prefers traveling in rural India and writing about people living on the margins of society. He has worked with publications such as The Week and the Indian Express.

Keywords: malnutrition Maharashtra land rights NREGA NGO Adivasi community wildlife Melghat 2006 forest rights act
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