Today, on the birthday of PARI co-founder Sonya Gill, the People's Archive of Rural India is launching a Senior Fellowship of Rs. 5 lakh for women journalists and filmmakers, in honour of her work. Sonya worked for four decades for Women’s Rights with the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA). She remained very active even as she battled multiple rounds of cancer. Her work was rooted in the lives and struggles of everyday people, particularly working-class women. Her passing on August 25 robbed the women's movement of a fine leader - and me of my beloved life partner of 40 years. This is a Senior Fellowship for women reporters/film makers. They are expected to produce 10 field reports / one or more documentary films across rural India, over a period of 1-2 years. The Fellowship will cover Women’s Rights, including Women’s Labour, Livelihoods, Health, Justice – and more. Will update you with further information soon as we can.

1/3. They’re back! India’s 224 billionaires have recovered to cross the $1 trillion-mark in terms of cumulative net worth. Heartening to learn from the Forbes live list that as of May 27, all our beloved billionaires have shrugged off the ill-effects of the annoying war in West Asia. That conflict briefly pulled India’s Billi Brotherhood down to a humiliating 980-billion dollar rung. Now they’ve bounced back. Could it be that the austerity of others feeds into the opulence of the Brothers? With a little bit of help from their friends, the Brotherhood have returned to an honourable cumulative worth of $1011 billion, or just over a trillion dollars. A saga of stunning endurance, and a demo of how to keep raking it in when most other Indians reel under repeated blows and show no spark of resistance.

1/6. At age 86, P. V. Chinnathambi still runs a unique library in the hilly forests of Idukki in Kerala. He has run that library – 2,000 books, all classics – for 15 years now. The books are borrowed, read and returned by poor Muthuvan Adivasis. All this in Edamalakudi, Kerala’s only tribal panchayat and perhaps its – relatively speaking – lowest literacy spot and least educated region. PARI story link ruralindiaonline.org/article…