Do Peacocks Have Sex? Are Cows A Better National Animal Than Tigers?—NPR Goats and Soda

by Abhishek Shah | Sep 21, 2020 | Essays & Commentaries, Narratives & Features, Portfolio

India is having a debate about its national animals. Currently, the mighty tiger is the national beast and the peacock is the national bird. But the cow has recently been proposed as a replacement for the tiger because of its status as a holy animal. And this week,...

Why Does India Lead The World In Deaths From TB?—NPR Goats and Soda

by Abhishek Shah | Sep 21, 2020 | Essays & Commentaries, Portfolio

For the second year in a row, India has landed the dubious distinction of being number one in the world for deaths from tuberculosis: 423,000 TB patients died in the year 2016. That’s a third of the world’s 1.4 million death toll. India, of course, is not...

Bangalore Widows Find Camaraderie, Friendship in the Face of Isolation—The New Humanitarian

by Abhishek Shah | Sep 21, 2020 | Essays & Commentaries, Portfolio

For five mornings each week, the elderly women who visit the Rangoli Women’s Center say they feel like they belong somewhere. This is an unusual feeling for many of them. In most of India, older women are practically invisible. In large families, they take on...

At Age 101, She’s A World Champ Runner—NPR Goats and Soda

by Abhishek Shah | Sep 21, 2020 | Essays & Commentaries, Portfolio

Man Kaur is 101, but her routine could tire most 20-somethings. Every day she wakes up at 4 a.m., bathes, washes clothes, makes tea, recites prayers until about 7 a.m. Sometimes she goes to the Gurdwara, the place of worship for Sikhs, other times she prays at home....

‘They Are My Sisters’: Diary of a Land Rights Activist in Rural India—The New Humanitarian

by Abhishek Shah | Sep 21, 2020 | Essays & Commentaries, Portfolio

Kamala Damor, or Sister Kamala, works with women and girls in rural Gujarat to help them access their right to property and inheritance. She tells her story to Chhavi Sachdev. “On Mondays, I leave home at 9 a.m. so I can be in Meghraj town by 10, when the land...

UNICEF’s Good News About Child Marriage Isn’t Quite As Good As It Sounds—NPR Goats and Soda

by Abhishek Shah | Sep 21, 2020 | Essays & Commentaries, Portfolio

A report released this month by UNICEF has been cause for celebration in India, the country with the highest number of child marriages in South Asia each year. According to the newly released data, the annual number of child marriages in the country has dropped by...