Each year, as new girls join the nationwide community of 171,000 girls under the wings of Project Nanhi Kali, drawstring bags in Nanhi Kali’s unmistakable canary-yellow soon arrive at their sides. Each bag and the six items packed inside it make up what we call a Nanhi Kali Kit: a

India is sitting on a goldmine of potential—its young people. With one of the largest youth populations in the world, the choices we make today in educating and preparing them will decide not just their futures, but the country’s economic and social trajectory for decades to come. But how do

“6.4 million saplings transported up hills to remote tribal villages, distributed to farmers in customised species combinations, in just two months! How is that even possible!?” We hear that a lot. The sheer scale of our annual sapling drive comes as a surprise to many. And to be fair, it

Naandi, and the 170,000 Nanhi Kalis we support each year, are very serious about sports. So serious, in fact, that we have a sports app – one we’re sure is the first of its kind in India, perhaps even the world. The story of how this app came to be

India is home to one of the largest populations of young people in the world. This very vast demographic dividend—millions of individuals aged between 18 and 25—holds the potential to shape not just the economy, but the very nature of our society. But potential alone doesn’t fuel progress. To transform

If you think back to your biology lessons, you may remember being taught about photosynthesis as a chemical reaction with a specific formula to memorise. You may also remember not being encouraged to consider just how extraordinary this process really is​. We encourage you to do that with us.​ Through the act

Naandi’s Sports for Life programme was launched in 2018 with the goal of unlocking the potential of Nanhi Kali girls across India by building a vibrant sports community just for them. Today, it is a community led by women, for women and young girls, and it makes sports and physical

Subhasmita Nanda, a quiet and reserved woman from a humble village near Balasore, Odisha, harbored a dream: to forge an independent life and career beyond the familiar confines of her home and small town. She understood the inherent challenges of this ambition, particularly for women in Odisha, a state historically

Across India—and in many other countries ​around the world—there ​is a collective wisdom which exists ​a​mong women, ​m​ost especially rural women. This is a deep, inherited wisdom, passed down through generations which concerns the many ways one can grow, prepare, and preserve food. If you’ve ever seen a woman walking through her farm, instinctively checking the moisture

In the month of April, beneath the generous canopy of an age-old mango orchard, the 17th annual Gems of Araku ceremony took place. This picturesque location, familiar to and cherished by many Naandities who have visited and worked in the Araku region, provided a most fitting setting to celebrate the

For over 25 years, Naandi has remained a steady force in grassroots, women-led development, particularly in the fields of education, employment, and agriculture. There is, however, a particular field, a literal field, that we feel holds enormous potential to shape girls and young women into confident leaders. That field is

Cotton. A crop and textile that has woven itself into our lives, to quite literally touch us all. We wear and use it daily and probably forget its journey from field to fabric. So much so that one is more likely to use the word ‘cotton’ in association with everyday