Listen to our latest podcast about Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh. The podcast explores the friendship of baiga with tigers and their unique farming patterns.

Suno Folk Trail Episode #1 Baiga Tribe

Folk Trails Episode #1: Baigas- setting the perfect example of friendship between humans and tigers

Thousands of families suffering from floods in Madhya Pradesh as Gujarat Government refuses to open the gates of Sardar Sarovar Dam. The dam has reached its peak and due to the backwater, a large part of Madhya Pradesh has been drowned. The affected people are not ready to leave their homes as they allege that the government has not provided them proper rehabilitation and compensation. They are living in a very bad condition with waterlogging in their homes and fields and lack of electricity. Social worker Medha Patkar and other affected people share their ordeal with Ground Tales.

GroundTales: Hellish life of people living near the backwaters of Sardar Sarovar

Anant Mandi, a unique marketplace for organic farmers and lovers of organic food, founded by youth and farming enthusiasts of Bhopal.  The Anant Mandi aims to promote the practice of ecological farming, healthy and local food and sustainable living in urban lifestyle and to bride the gap between farmers and consumers. Farmers from various districts like Hoshangabad, Dewas, Sehore, Vidisha, and Bhopal bring their produce at this Mandi. The organisers have also initiated a Swap Sale Stall 'Adlaa Badli' with the intention to promote the culture of 'exchange and sharing' instead of 'buying new'. People can bring clothes, books, stationery, accessories, kitchen-ware etc and exchange items at the stall. As a cherry on the cake, delicious snacks and drinks made of organic fruits and vegetables are also served at the Mandi. Anant Mandi is organised on the last Sunday of every month at Gandhi Bhawan.

Anant Mandi: Bhopal's organic Mandi provides marketplace to local farmers

Madhya Pradesh is home to many tribal communities and here in the deep forests of the state, age old music is still alive and being practised by a large population. We are bringing to you the soulful music of Gond community that were presented by the tribal artists of Dindori. The songs were recorded at Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum.

FolkTrails Episode #2: Feel the soulful music of Gond tribe of Madhya Pradesh

Baiga, an indigenous tribe of Madhya Pradesh, hardly take medicines for common ailments as their day to day food itself has more healing properties than modern medicines, without the side effects. They eat a number of green leafy vegetables available in the jungles, but unknown to the urban folks. The herbs, coarse grains and local vegetables provide complete nutrition to the body and heal the ill in no time. Dayaram Rathodiya, a Baiga, spoke to Ground Tales and revealed the age old secrets.

Folk Trails Episode #3: Folk Trail Episode 3: This indigenous tribe's cuisine works like medicine

In light of discussions over NRC and ridding India of "outsiders", Ground Tales spoke to a senior citizen Sunil Sarkar who came to India as a refugee in 1964, after the riots in Pakistan and was welcomed with open arms India. Now a citizen of the country, he recounted his ordeal disclosing how the horrors of those days still haunt him and India, his new motherland gave him a new life. Visit www.groundtales.com for our other podcasts.

East Pakistan's refugee recounts the horror of 1964 communal riots

Madhya Pradesh is ranked amongst few of the worst states of India in terms of nutrition and infant mortality rate. But there are some great initiatives taking place in small villages to overcome these issues that are worth sharing. Kotagunjapur, a village inside Panna Tiger Reserve has conquered malnutrition with kitchen gardens. The village that does not have access to roads and electricity has now attained freedom from malnutrition, something that even bigger villages and cities have been unable to achieve. Villagers realized that they are extremely poor and cannot afford dear vegetables from the market because of which their kids and women were not getting proper nutrition, leading to increase in malnutrition. Some social workers helped them develope kitchen-gardens in every household where they could grow iron and vitamin-rich vegetables and herbs. In a period of four years, the condition improved drastically. The villagers started getting fresh vegetables every day and that showed a positive impact on their health. The story about zero malnutrition villages is still untold. Ground Tales spoke to the social workers and the residents of Kotagunjapur to know more about the model and the struggle to make the initiative popular amongst villagers. We also interacted with activists behind this initiative who played a pivotal role in popularising the kitchen- garden concept to tackle the problem of malnutrition with a zero-budget plan. Listen to our podcast at www.groundtales.com

Ground Tales: A tale of malnutrition-free village

The outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar this year, which claimed the lives of more than 180 children, portrays the bad healthcare and infrastructure of the Bihar government. A few months after the outbreak, a group of journalists and social workers came up with a survey, showing the real cause behind this outbreak. The survey released on November 13 at Muzaffarpur says that 96.5 percent of children who were affected by Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) belonged to the underprivileged section and scheduled castes and tribes. The survey revealed that 97.8 percent of the family of children affected by AES could not earn more than Rs. 10,000 a month.  The mainstream media had criticized government hospitals for allegedly not providing proper health care, but the survey revealed that 92 percent affected families appreciated the job of doctors and hospital staff. Pushya Mitra, a senior journalist and one of the prominent persons behind this survey tells us more about the findings of the survey.  Please Subscribe and share this podcast.

Shocking! Look who is behind the death due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Bihar

Untold and Unheard
Listen to our podcasts at www.groundtales.com