"Even just a few spices or ethnic condiments that you can keep in your pantry can turn your mundane dishes into culinary masterpieces." - Marcus Samuelsson, world renowned chef.
Spices are fascinating condiments. They wrap within them a sea of flavour that adds magic to almost every culinary preparation and lifts it from the ordinary to extraordinary.
India has a plethora of spices that are ground, powdered, dried, soaked or used as they are, to create some of the most special and popular delicacies in the country.
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Spices may be called the “heartbeat” of an Indian kitchen. Each region in the country adds a sprinkling of its secret mix of local spices to cooking pots to enhance flavours and accentuate the colours of the dishes. For example,
sambhar in Karnataka is so very different from how it is made in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Similarly, fish curry made in West Bengal is nothing like the one made in Goa.
If your spice cabinet just has staples like cumin, mustard, cardamom, cinnamon, etc., it's time to add more variety. Here are 14 unusual spices that will add some complexity to your cooking. And yes, even though they might take a bit of work to find and get used to, your taste buds are sure to thank you for bringing something new to the table!
1. Kalonji (Nigella Seeds)
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Ever wondered what those black seeds on your
naan and savoury biscuits are called? Nigella seeds or
kalonji are tiny, triangular, jet black seeds that have a faintly bitter flavour with a touch of sweetness. Apart from having medicinal properties,
kalonji is a superb spice, used to flavour a variety of traditional dishes, including pickles. Other than being an essential ingredient of the Bengali five-spice mix known as
panch phoran,
kalonji is also used to temper lentils, greens and other curries. It is generally dry-roasted or tempered in cooking oil before being added to such recipes.
Also known as: Kalo jira, Krishna Jeerige, Kalzira, Karim Jeerakam, Mangrail, Charnushka.
2. Bhut Jolokia/Raja Mirchi (Naga Chilli/Ghost Chilli)
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In the year 2007,
bhut jolokia was certified by the Guinness World Records as the 'hottest chilli pepper in the world'. Deep red in colour, this blazing hot chilli is a star ingredient in some of the most sensational preparations of North East India. The smallest amount of
bhut jolokia can flavour a dish so intensely that even a nibble will make tears run down your face. In fact, in 2010, the Indian military decided to use this chilli in hand grenades for crowd control!
Also known as: Ghost pepper, Raja mirchi, U-morok, Red Naga, Naga jolokia, Bih jolokia.
3. Radhuni (Dried Fruit of Wild Celery )
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Often confused with
ajwain, caraway and celery seeds due to its similar appearance,
radhuni is actually the small dried fruit of trachyspermum roxburghianum or wild celery, a flowering plant that grows extensively in South Asia.
Radhuni smells similar to parsley and tastes quite like celery. In Bengali cuisine, whole
radhuni is quickly fried in very hot oil until it crackles. It is also a part of the Bengali five-spice mix,
paanch phoran.
Also known as: Shalari, Ajmud, Ajamoda.
4. Kalpasi/Dagad Phool (Black Stone Flower)
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Kalpasi is a type of lichen with a mild woody fragrance. It is mostly used in Chettinad and Maharashtrian cuisines. Though it has no taste of its own,
kalpasi adds a mysterious flavour to whatever food it is added to. The blackish purple flower is often blended with other spices to make some indigenous masalas. For example, in Maharashtra, it forms a part of the famous
goda masala, while in Lucknow it is used to make the
potli masala. It is also believed to be a part of the traditional
garam masala but not many manufacturers care to include this spice. Requiring a slight elevation above sea level for cultivation, only a few places in Tamil Nadu - Ooty and Kodaikanal - grow this rare delight.
Also known as: Shaileyam, Dagad Phool, Raathi Pootha, Kallu Hoovu, Patthar ke Phool
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5. Lakadong Turmeric (Dried Curcuma Longa Root)
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A high curcumin turmeric exclusive to Meghalaya, Lakadong turmeric is counted among the finest turmerics in the world. The root and rhizome (underground stem) of the Curcuma lomba L. plant is crushed and powdered before being sold in the local markets of Jaintia hills. The curcumin content (known for its many health benefits) in Lakadong turmeric is between 6 to 7%, which is one of the highest, as against a mere 2 to 3% in most varieties of turmeric.
Also known as: Chirmit Lachein (yellow),
Chirmit Ladaw (yellow-orange),
Chirmit Lakadong (yellow red)
6. Kanthari Mulagu (White Bird's Eye Chilli)
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Grown in Kerala and some parts of Tamil Nadu, the super hot, ivory coloured
kanthari mulagu chilli is mainly cultivated as a homestead crop. A rare variety of Bird's Eye Chilli,
kanthari mulagu has traditionally been used to stimulate appetite, control cholesterol levels and ease arthritis pain. In Kerala, this chilli is used in relishes, pickles and curries.
7. Jaiur (Winged Prickly Ash Seeds)
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A uniquely flavoured spice of Meghalaya, you probably know
jaiur by its more common name, Szechuan pepper. Not very hot or pungent on its own, it has slight lemony overtones and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth that sets the stage for hot spices. The tiny seed pods are toasted before being crushed and used in chutneys. Only the husks are used and the gritty black seeds are discarded. In Meghalaya, it is added to a traditional side dish of fermented fish called
tungtap.
Also known as: Timur, Tumbru, Jimmi, Tejphal
8. Kodampuli (Garcinia Cambogia/ Malabar Tamarind)
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Kodampuli is a sun dried fruit used to flavour curries in Kerala. When the
Garcinia Cambogia fruit ripens, it's removed from the vine, seeded, and left to dry in the sun till it turns leathery. The skins are then smoked, infusing them with a complex aroma. After a brief rinse and soak, the skins are added to curries,where they contribute a pleasant sourness to the sauce, with hints of sweetness, astringency, and the faintest whiff of smoke.
Also known as: gambodge, Malabar tamarind, fish tamarind
9. Jakhiya (Cleome Viscosa Seeds)
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A tiny, dark brown and granular seed with a beautiful earthy aroma and a unique flavour,
jakhiya is the seed of
Cleome Viscosa, little known wild edible plant of the Indian Himalayas. The seeds, which are dried in the sun before they are sold, are used for tempering almost all types of vegetables and curries in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Because of their sharp pungent smell and crunchy taste, most Garhwalis prefer
jakhiya over cumin and mustard seeds for tempering.
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10. Ratanjot (Alkanet Root)
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Alkanet root, better known as
ratanjot, is a dried herb grown in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Traditionally used to add colour to Indian food,
ratanjot is the natural food colouring that gives the famous Kashmiri dish, Rogan Josh, its signature crimson colour. It is also used as a tint in the tandoori chicken marinade. Over the years, the use of
ratanjot has been replaced by synthetic colours.
11. Kokum (Garcinia Indica Fruit)
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Essentially a halved and sun-dried fruit,
kokum imparts a pretty pink-purple colour and sweet-sour taste to food. Usually available as a dried rind,
kokum resembles a thick plum skin with its dark purple to black colour, sticky texture and curled edges. The
kokum is native to the Konkan coast India (Maharashtra and Goa) and is rarely seen beyond this area. A key property of
kokum is its cooling nature, and during the parched summer months in these states, large glasses of
kokum sherbet are downed to beat the heat.
Also known as: Kokambi, Aamsul, Kaatampi, Punarpuli
12. Maroi Nakupi (Asian Chives)
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A grass-like herb similar to chives,
maroi nakupi is used as a substitute for garlic and onion in cooking in North East India, especially in Manipur. The flat leaves, the stalks, and the unopened flower buds are all used as flavouring in local delicacies such as as
eromba, bora, singju, and
ametpa. The juice of crushed leaves is also used as a traditional folk medicine for the treatment of fungal or bacterial infections.
Also known as:
Dunduko Saag
13. Maratti Moggu (Dried Kapok Buds)
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A spice indigenous to the Chettinad region,
maratti moggu is the unopened flower bud of the Red Silk Cotton tree (
Ceiba Bombax). Dark brown in colour, with an appearance similar to a larger version of the clove,
maratti moggu is used in Karnataka's much loved dishes
bisi bele baath and
saagu. It is usually fried in oil before use to release its full flavour, which is similar to that of a combination of mustard and black pepper.
Also known as:
Karer, Shalmali, Semul, Andhra Moggu
14. Anardana (Dried Pomegranate Seeds)
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Quite simply,
anardana is dried pomegranate seeds. Retaining many of the qualities of fresh pomegranate seeds (and the juice surrounding them), anardana lends a mildly sweet and tangy flavour that adds to the richness and depth of a dish. A variety of wild pomegranate called
daru, which grows in the southern Himalayas, is reputed to yield the best
anardana. Interestingly, this spice also has preservative qualities (similar to the properties of lemon juice) and can also be used as a thickening agent.
Also known as: Daalim, Dalimba, Mathalam Pazham, Dannima Pandu
Also Read: Food Secrets: 20 Ultimate Indian Thalis that Take You Straight to Foodie Heaven
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For Vimla Devi, 30, of Kalimath village, who lost her shop and home in the 2013 disaster, her cow has saved her from abject poverty. (Credit: Nitin Jugran Bahuguna\WFS)[/caption]
Launched by a Dehradun-based non government organisation, Himmotthan, in April 2014, the ‘Uttarakhand Post-Disaster Livelihood Programme’, supported by Tata Trusts and the Tata Uttarakhand Programme, reaches out to women to enable them to augment their household incomes through on-farm as well as off-farm activities. The intervention covers a total of 5,935 affected households in 63 villages spread across Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh.
As providing essential income support to distressed families is one of the major thrusts of the initiative, Himmotthan has distributed flour milling machines, knitting machines and milk churners to individuals in the targeted villages.
Although Vimla has managed to rebuild her home and the shop she is still waiting for the bridge (in the background) that connects the two to be repaired. (Credit: Nitin Jugran Bahuguna\WFS)[/caption]
Gita Bisht, 33, of Chandrapuri, widowed in 2013, sees her knitting machine as the means to a better life someday. (Credit: NitinJugran Bahuguna\WFS)[/caption]
Widowed young, Vijaya Devi, 36, who lost her son, the sole earning member of the family in the flash floods, today is working work part-time at the centre started by Himmotthan where women earn spinning thread from wool. (Credit: Nitin Jugran Bahuguna\WFS)[/caption]
According to figures compiled by Himmotthan, the 2013 floods destroyed 4,200 villages. In the worst affected settlements, 20 to 30% of homes were wiped out and financial losses with respect to livestock, agricultural land and crops came to an estimated Rs 1.6 billion.
The spinning centre at Kalimath village has six machines where 10 women come and work by rotation. (Credit: Nitin Jugran Bahuguna\WFS)[/caption]
Anand[/caption]
But the more he visited Kalap, the more he realized how socially isolated the village was. On one of his trips he met an old woman burning with high fever. He gave her a paracetamol and when the fever came down, she literally fell at his feet. He then got to know that no doctor had ever visited Kalap, realizing that the many things we take for granted in the cities, are hard to come by in Kalap. He arranged for visiting doctors and set up the first ever health camp in Kalap in 2014. It was disturbing to know that many villagers were diagnosed with tuberculosis during the health camp.
That’s when Anand decided to do something more long term to improve the lives of people there. He set up the Kalap Trust in September 2014. And a lot has changed for the good since then. A free clinic has been set up to deal with two chronic health issues affecting most people there– tuberculosis and nutritional disorders. The clinic’s focus is on the vulnerable population – children, pregnant women and the elderly.
The clinic provides out-patient services, antenatal care for pregnant women, paediatric treatment, emergency care for minor fractures, burn, wounds, etc. and preventive measures like spreading awareness about hygiene, cleanliness, nutrition, etc.
The Trust has installed specialized equipment at the clinic, in addition to basic clinical equipment like ECG machine, pulse oximeter, nebulizer, tractions, oxygen cylinder, IV stands, braces/stabilizers/cane, hospital bed (manual), etc. They are also in the process of setting up a basic laboratory that will offer bloodwork and tests for STDs. The Trust dispenses medicines free of cost, which has been a boon to the villagers, since monetary transactions are minimal in Kalap where the barter system is still prevalent.
The second most important project taken up by the Kalap Trust is education. The only barely running government school there was the one that continues to be in an appalling condition today. The teachers wouldn’t turn up to teach and children would refuse to have the awful mid-day meals.
The purpose of this initiative is to assess the gaps in government education system and fill them. The school runs every day after regular school hours and full-time on holidays and during vacations. One of the most important things it imparts is English language training, which prepares the children to adjust easily to an English medium school later in their academic life. Another emphasis is on nature interpretation, outdoor experiential education, basic science and math education.
I got an opportunity to attend and observe some sessions led by the teacher Ashwini Govind. With a diploma in Experiential Education, Ashwini said her earlier experience was in teaching city children to connect with nature. But here, teaching children who were born and brought up so close to nature was a totally different ball game.
The children are split up into different learning groups after an assessment process. The classes for the different groups happens in batches every alternate day and the teachers also visit and work with children in the isolated settlement of Unani in the Kalap gram-panchayat.
Some of the youth from the village have been appointed as assistants to the teachers. The school, like the clinic, is entirely crowdfunded! The annual cost of running the school is around Rs. 18,00,000 which comes to Rs. 20,000 per student. The Trust accepts sponsorships for students. To know more about how to sponsor the school, you can send an email to 
There are three 8W tube lights provided in each home and one mobile charging station. The consumers currently pay a fixed rate of Rs. 200 per month for the electricity consumed. Additionally, there is enough surplus power being generated by the solar panels during the day to provide electricity to a school and clinic run by the Trust. The children are able to do their school homework and people are able to finish their household chores comfortably at night. Charging of mobile phones has enabled access to information from across the world thus ending the social isolation of the village. As travellers it was a relief to charge our phones and camera batteries in the home-stay.
Being nestled in the Garhwal Himalayas, Kalap has many trekking and hiking routes offering splendid views of the mountains. These routes pass through quaint villages, virgin forests, gurgling mountain streams and alpine meadows. Anand has started a community tourism programme, which generates gainful employment for the local people. Local men and women have been trained as mountain guides and perform other activities on a campsite like cooking, taking care of guests, etc. Rooms in village homes are used as homestays. This project began in June 2013 and has been running successfully. Visitors get to experience the local culture, interact with the village people, sample local cuisine and explore the beautiful surroundings.
• Kalap Experience (4 Nights) – This is available all year round and visitors get a taste of village life including local food, folklore interpretation, cultural performances, and day treks in the area.
• The Four Village Trail (5 Nights) – Also possible throughout the year, this trail provides a typical village experience with trekking and overnight camping. One gets to visit potato fields, millet patches, and pastures.
• The Nomad Trail (7 Nights) – This is Kalap's signature trail and the one that I went for. The trail follows the path of the Nomadic shepherds who move from one pasture to another for their sheep and goats to graze on. This is a moderate level trek and is conducted from April 15 to November 15.
• Barad Sar (9 Nights) – This is for adventure enthusiasts who will get to trek to the high-altitude glacial lake Barad Sar. The lake is located more than 14,000 feet above sea level and is the most sacred spot in the Tons Valley. Lord Vishnu is believed to have emerged from its depths in one of his many incarnations. This trek is offered from September 15 to October 30 every year.
Another important project taken up by Anand is to spread awareness about the importance of sanitation. The village people perform their morning ablutions out in the open just outside the village. Not only does that spread diseases but also ruins the beauty of the place. He has been encouraging people to construct toilets. In 2013, there were just two toilets in the village of 100 homes. Today, there are 25 toilets.
They now have access to a resident doctor, meaningful education for their children, and a sense of social inclusion which was earlier lacking. Anand is working on expanding the scope of the Trust beyond Kalap, to the nearby villages nearby that are as socially isolated as Kalap earlier was. His vision is to enable access to essential services like education, electricity and medical facilities and create livelihood options for the people of the Tons river valley.
To know more about Kalap and the work of the Kalap Trust, visit 
There are many rural women near Dehradun who are involved in arts and craft activities in an unstructured way. The UPES team has set up a computer laboratory for these women inside the campus, where they are leaning about the basics of computers and how to use design software. With the help of this training, they are designing products that are different from the mundane designs already available in the market. After designing, they work under the guidance of skilled bamboo artisans in that area, who help in improving their designs and make them suitable for today’s markets. The park also has an arts and craft studio for the artisans and women to work together. Dr. Neelu says that they are now trying to connect these women to the markets for better sales.
“Being a university, we have plenty of waste paper that can be converted into useful products, thereby increasing employment opportunities for rural women,” says Dr. Bhawna. The team has installed seven paper recycling machines inside the campus to make pencils out of the waste paper. The UPES team has also formed and is training a women self-help group for using these machines to make products like cardboards, pen holders, marriage cards etc.
The team has selected 10 villages that have several marginal farmers who own small land areas. The UPES team has introduced the concept of cultivating medicinal and aromatic plants like Lemon Grass, Aloe Vera, Tulsi, etc. They provide training to the farmers with the help of experts from different organizations for the cultivation of these crops. Farmers also receive organic fertilisers, seeds, scientific guidance, market linkages, farming equipment, etc. These crops are profitable and are helping them earn more. They have already cultivated camomile plants on 20 bhiga land since September last year and are planning to cultivate Tulsi and Stevia this season.
While the tech park is located inside the campus, the activities that require training in the fields are conducted in the villages. UPES is working with over 100 beneficiaries in all. The team has seven people including Dr. Neelu who is the Principal Investigator of the project.
Divya Rawat's social innovation to foster mushroom cultivation helps bring livelihood opportunities to Uttarakhand[/caption]
Divya Rawat, Social Entrepreneur[/caption]
Divya's social enterprise is empowering villagers of Uttarakhand and making them entrepreneurs[/caption]
There are no roads, no electricity and no fixed addresses on this journey that takes them across high plains, treacherous passes and picturesque Himalayan valleys. Like for their ancestors before them, life for the nomadic tribe of Van Gujjars, is all about survival and perpetual movement. Originally from Jammu and Kashmir, the tribe has over time spread out across the ranges of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in search of rich forests and meadows for their cattle.
The lives of the Van Gujjars are centred around caring for and finding food for their animals. Winters are spent in the wilderness of the Himalayan lowlands, the Shivalik range, where the lush foliage provides plenty of fodder for the buffaloes. Aware that the amount of milk produced by the buffaloes, along with its flavor, is determined by what they eat, the herders themselves climb up trees to chop off the best varieties of leaf-laden branches for their buffaloes.
The annual spring migration, called transhumance, starts when summer hits the northern hemisphere in the months of April and May. With the temperatures soaring above 45 degrees Celsius, leaves wither and creeks run dry in the heat. With nothing left for their buffaloes to eat or drink, the Van Gujjars load up all they own and start the long trek with their herds up into the cool mountains.
Each family gets a permit from the forest authorities to live in a particular forest for six months. From children to the elderly, entire families trek with their herds up into the Himalayas. While on the trek, camps are set up within striking distance of water sources.
There are two things that the Van Gujjars have to reckon with to optimize the timing of their ascent. If they reach alpine grasslands too early, the meadows will still be covered with snow. But if they linger too long en route, they will waste money (earned by selling milk on the way) to buy fodder and food they don’t actually need. So they move strategically, analysing the ground conditions, aiming to reach the meadows as soon as the grass comes up.
Each member in a Van Gujjar family has a well-defined role (based on age) with the animals: the adults walk with big buffaloes and horses while the children follow at a slower pace with the calves.
A Muslim community, Van Gujjars have their own dialect called Gujjari, which is a linguistic fusion of Dogri (a Kashmiri tongue) and Punjabi. For most of their history, the nomads were known as Gujjars. They only added the word Van (forest) to their tribal name in the late 1980s. This was to distinguish themselves from the other Gujjars in India, a very different community with whom they may or may not share distant ancestral roots.
Buffalo milk is the main (and often only) source of income and the staple food for the Van Gujjars. With the well-being of every Van Gujjar family being completely dependent on the well-being of its herd, it's no wonder that caring for the water buffaloes is the axis around which the tribe’s world revolves. The tribe's water buffaloes are different from those normally kept by farmers and dairymen in India.
Aside from thriving on all sorts of foliage, these animals also know how to fight with predators and work together to protect their calves from attack.
If a buffalo becomes ill or injured, its owners fret with concern till the animal gets better and when a buffalo dies (a loss more personal than financial for Van Gujjars), the animal is mourned almost like one would mourn a family member.
The Van Gujjars spend their summers in the Himalayan meadows practising seasonal and rotational grazing, which is generally regarded to be environmentally responsible. Since they only spend part of the year there, the land regenerates when they’re gone, helped by the animal dung left behind that acts as a fertilizer for the meadow ecosystem.
When the cold sets in at the end of September, the Van Gujjars head back down to the Shivaliks, where the forests have sprung back to life following the monsoon rains.
But things are changing now with the Van Gujjars facing serious challenges to their livelihoods, most of them stemming from a lack of forest rights, unrecognised domicile rights, illiteracy, and poverty. In recent years, many high altitude forest passes have become paved roads with heavy traffic, making walking with buffaloes hazardous. This has forced the nomads to cover certain stretches at night to avoid accidents. Climate change and indiscriminate deforestation has also led to less foliage and water in the forests.
Under the aegis of the National Literacy Mission, Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) identified the lack of literacy among the Van Gujjars to be the root cause of their exploitation. To remedy the situation, it started a unique and innovative adult literacy programme - Teaching the Nomads in the Wild. To support this ambitious and innovative adult education programme, a forest academy of sorts was put in place with 350 highly motivated volunteer teachers. These teachers were trained and deployed in the Van Gujjar settlements to teach the tribals at their doorsteps.
The teachers trekked up and down with the community and their buffalo herds during their transhumance and also stayed with them in the highland pastures during the summer months. They would move back to the forests of Shivaliks for the winter along with the community. This ensured that there was continuity in the adult literacy programme, which laid stress on functional aspects of literacy, making the community reliant in keeping its accounts, lodging police complaints, petitioning the authorities for the redressal of grievances, and fighting for their rights. The community was also taught how to read and write Hindi besides being taught simple arithmetic.
American author and freelance photographer Michael Benanav is known for immersing himself in foreign cultures and bringing compelling images and stories back from distant places. He followed one family of the Van Gujjars on their annual spring migration into the Himalayas. Documented in his recently book, 
Crank's Ridge[/caption]
Simtola[/caption]
The Kasar Devi Temple[/caption]
Each school had a slightly different design configuration and yet a similar look and feel. Some of them had four classrooms, others five. The goal was to create something on the walls that would appeal to the young students as well as local villagers and visitors. Finally, on September 10, after many days of creative brainstorming and planning, the Delhi Street Art team left for this exciting art adventure equipped with paints, brushes, rollers, and other supplies.
Day 1: Late on the first night, after a brief stop in Rishikesh, the first stop was on the outskirts of the town of Rudraprayag. The first village school was still a few hours’ drive away but it had been a long and tiring 12-hour journey and driving at night could have been risky.
Day 2: The valley of Rudraprayag was stunning. Pilgrims walked barefoot towards their religious destinations while trucks and mini-buses struggled up and down the steep roads. A two-hour drive brought the team to the small town of Ukhimath. The hills, as far as the eye could see, were lush green. In the distance, however, large chunks of soil and rock had caved in at several places and led to massive erosion, damaging the roads below. The village of Karokhi is another half hour drive from Ukhimath on the road to Chopta – the famed town in Uttarakhand that is also referred to as the Switzerland of the hills by some locals.
It looked a fairly long and steep hike to get to the top. It was! After a slow and somewhat breathless climb through a narrow, picturesque village path, the Karokhi School was clearly visible. It was a newly built structure and some of the landscaping work was still underway. After walking around the hillside and observing local flora and fauna, the team spent most of the afternoon and evening sketching out the designs on the walls. Being a Sunday, there were no children at school. But a few of them stopped by to admire and even bring some hot tea.
Day 3: The Delhi Street Art team got down to business early! There were five bare classrooms walls and a long front facing wall. As the day started warming up, the shapes on the walls started to take definite form and a more finished look. This was a school day and two of the rooms were occupied by students attending classes. As soon as the children took a break from their class, they eagerly joined the team in painting the walls. A mid-day meal prepared for the children was also enjoyed by the art team along with locally grown fresh pahadi cucumber.
Day 4: Huddu village is further down the same road from Karokhi, but the road is broken in many places with landslides and often accompanied by cascading waterfalls. The school is a 200 meter downhill hike from the road and the buildings are visible clearly from all the surrounding parts of the valley. This being a Sunday, none of school children had come. The walk down the path offered stunning panoramic view of the valley. A special task undertaken at this location was to painting a giant “smiley” on the roof of the school building, because it is visible from where the kids and teachers approach the school.
Day 5: The target location for the day was a small village hamlet of Phali Pasalat. In order to get there, the team had to traverse for a couple of hours back through Ukhimath, and past the town of Guptkashi. The long meandering path leading to the school passed through terraced fields, lush countryside, and a picturesque village with stone walled homes. This was a smaller school – small classrooms and small walls. Right next to the school was an ancient Shiva temple – claimed by locals to be more than 5,000 years old. By now the art team was working like clockwork and everyone knew what they had to do and get done. For the first time, distant snow-capped mountains could be seen at the horizon now that the clouds had given way to bright sunshine. The day certainly had warmed up significantly. Dal, chawal and vegetable of raddish leaves was served as the midday meal for all.
Day 6: The school at Sitapur is located slightly above the main road and is split between two sets of buildings – one with two classrooms and another with three. Right next to it is the old school building showing massive cracks created during the earthquake. While some classes are still being held there, the plan is to move children to the newer, safer buildings as soon as they are ready. Several kids jumped in to participate in wall art.
By 5 pm, all walls had been painted, selfies clicked and all the supplies packed and loaded into the car. They were now ready for the long journey to Tilwara – back on the road towards Srinagar and Rishikesh – the final destination of the trip.
Day 7: The village of Dangi Gunau is a steep one hour drive up from the town of Tilwara. The school is another short but steep walk up from the main road.
Many young people of the village appear to have moved to nearby towns or distant cities in search of jobs and faster life. It seemed a shame that while city dwellers craved to be out in the hills in search of clean air, water, peaceful surroundings, and healthy food – so many in these pristine mountains had settled for polluted, crowded city environment.
The Delhi Street Art team shared their time and creative efforts and left some colour and imagery on the walls, but most importantly, they experienced the joy of being a part of an initiative of hope and happiness!
(Written by Yogesh Saini)
Know more about Delhi Street Art 
She says, “After 2001, when Uttarakhand became a separate state and Dehradun became the capital, the city witnessed a huge influx of migrant labourers from various parts of the country like Bihar and Jharkhand. This resulted in a population explosion in the riverside slums. Two rivers run across Dehradun and both of them have been encroached upon by slum dwellers; they live in deplorable conditions. Their plight moved Shaila, who started visiting these settlements to teach, bathe and groom around 30 kids every day.”
Neha says, “The school comes to the children instead of the other way around. The TV screens are used to impart lessons to students who enter the mobile school.”
With its 13 programmes in place, the Aasraa trust manages to reach out to 1,300 children every day. It employs around 100 people, including teachers, administrative staff, and drivers.
Neha says, “We’ve always maintained at Aasraa that the outreach programme is the backbone of our organisation. People from our team form smaller groups and proceed to various slum settlements around the city. And we’ve noticed that on the days we don’t run the programme, the attendance tends to fall. Those who grew up in middle class households would know how their parents would push them to go to school every morning. But these children are not encouraged to go to school by their parents – in fact, they’re often discouraged from going to school and told to either beg or take up some menial jobs. So, it's hard for them to the see the deferred effects of learning. Our outreach team goes from house to house in order to convince parents and make them aware of the long-term impact of schooling.”
So, Aasraa runs a Street Smart programme, under which it educates more than 300 children on a daily basis. Street Smart is an “informal learning program with introduction to basic literacy.”
Any child associated with the Aasraa trust through the outreach program is first enrolled in the Street Smart programme. Here, the children start by learning the basics of Hindi, English and Maths. The children are soon divided into different groups according their position on the “learning ladder.” Neha says, “Our effort is to send them to regular public schools without them having to feel embarrassed about their age or knowledge levels; we attempt to mainstream them. The National Institute for Open Learning (NIOS) holds exams for the learning levels of 3rd, 5th and 8th graders. If a 15-year-old is enrolled under the Street Smart programme, we make him/her prepare for the Class 3 level examination. NIOS is very helpful in letting children learn at their own pace.”
Apart from sponsoring their education, giving them one hot meal a day, taking care of their medical expenses, and providing them with basic study materials, Aasraa also likes to ensure that the children are treated in a dignified manner when they enter classrooms with kids from different financial backgrounds.
Kalawati Rawat[/caption]
A village in Chamoli, Uttarakhand[/caption]
Women hugging the trees to prevent them from being cut in Uttarakhand[/caption]
Kalawati Rawat with her awards.[/caption]