The thick, heavy heat hits you at 6am on a Mumbai morning during monsoon season. This, however, is the ideal time to wake up if you plan to venture out into the streets on a bicycle, ready to explore its hidden areas. I spent a morning weaving through the streets of Mumbai with Reality Tours, an India-based organisation that creates change within communities through providing young people from underprivileged areas in India with high-quality education and opportunities. It provides new, exciting ways to see Mumbai (they also run programmes in Delhi), with 80% of its profits going back into lasting, beneficial community projects, all of which they are happy to explain, show you and even have you get involved in.
realitytoursandtravel.com
Natalie Lever
While visiting the Ganges river at the end of last year we saw a TV crew who told us they were filming Kumaran Mahalingam, a geologist who in January finished paddleboarding (as part of a team of three) the entire length of the 2,600km river to raise awareness of the conservation of water bodies. He had his work cut out; from sewage plants pumping untreated waste straight into the river to floating plastic debris as far as the eye can see. The Discovery Channel has made a documentary about the trip which will air later this year.
• bayoflife.com
Dolly Sully
This NGO works with the women of the Kutch area (north of Bhuj in Gujarat) to preserve their unique handicrafts. The people of this area migrated from what is now Pakistan, but can trace their origins further back, and are famous for producing (among other things) incredibly fine embroidery and textiles. This craft is born out of the tradition of giving dowries when marrying, some of the best dowries being fine textiles. The organisation doesn’t just sell stuff for them, it catalogues their designs, as well as making them available online. It provides the women of the various villages (each with their own unique traditions) with everything they need to produce their goods, and then sells them responsibly and sustainably on their behalf, allowing them to concentrate on producing more while enriching their own lives.
• kala-raksha.org
Awen Schiavone
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