Assam

Though the northeast states are often clubbed together, in many cases, there are wide differences between them.

The excerpt from the book 'My Half Of The Sky’ by Indrani Raimedhi talks about Birubala Rabha who has been crusading against witch-hunting for several years now. She went door-to-door to spread awareness about the cause and became architect of the country’s most stringent laws against witch-hunting recently enacted by Assam.

Illiteracy and alcoholism thrive in communities of Assam, along with ill health and domestic abuse, which give a perfect opportunity to traffickers. Here is how one organization and interesting initiatives are addressing the issues.

Birubala Rabha has been tirelessly fighting the cause of witch-hunting since the 1980s and is now a household name in Assam. Recently, she won the prestigious Upendra Nath Brahma Soldier of Humanity in Kokrajhar.

When Seema's parents decided to get her married at an early age, she approached her friends and convinced her family to drop the idea. Adolescent Girls Clubs, run by ABITA in partnership with UNICEF, are fighting against many similar cases of child marriage in Assam enabling young girls to dream big.

When a virulent epidemic called Black Fever struck their village, all the villagers vacated the place and never returned. Nature healed itself and now it is the location of one of India's most beautiful sanctuaries. Join Gangadharan Menon as he unearths the legends and mysteries surrounding the beautiful Orang and Nameri national parks in Assam, in addition to its stunning wildlife!

Jadav "Molai" Payeng started planting bamboo saplings when he was 16 years old. Today he is 47 and lives in his own forest with tigers, rhinos and elephants!

A unique concept - boat clinics - are offering crucial medical assistance, advice on family planning, and most importantly, hope to the millions living in the many small, flood-prone islands in Assam where hospitals and dedicated medical centres are unheard of, and at many times in the year, inaccessible.

Pratham Books celebrated International Literacy Day in a unique way - by holding storytelling sessions for thousands of children across India. Read an account of one such session held by our friend and writer in Assam, and learn about the beautiful experience storytelling can be - both for the listener and the teller, while serving as an important educational aid.