Nikkei Asian Review

Indian farmers fear for survival despite lockdown’s relaxation

TAMANNA NASEER, VISHAL ARORA and ANURADHA SHARMA, Contributing writers APRIL 20, 2020 20:19 JST India’s government has partially relaxed its nationwide lockdown, especially in rural areas, but farmers find themselves with no workers and severed from supply chains. (Photo by Harshita Rathore) BANGALORE/SOTAI/DARJEELING — India’s government on Monday partially relaxed its lockdown in rural areas, allowing farmers…

Small tea maker makes it big in Darjeeling

Nikkei Asian Review

DARJEELING, India — The heavily potholed dirt road winds through pine forests, quiet hamlets and small tea gardens before bending off in front of the factory at Niroula’s Tea Farm. Nearby, two workers pluck tender green tips — just two-leaves-and-a-bud — of tea, balancing wicker-baskets on their heads and themselves on the sloping ground. “Twenty years…

Startups put safety first for Indian women travelers

Nikkei Asian Review

SILIGURI, India — By the time the Ranchi Kamakhya Express trundled into Siliguri station, running over 10 hours late, it was almost midnight. Siliguri is the nearest train terminal for the Himalayan state of Sikkim, where a group of nine teenage girls from Jharkhand were headed. Despite having already traveled on the train for 24 hours…

Indian startup turns air pollutants into ink for art

Nikkei Asian Review

Bangalore’s Graviky Labs develops tool to capture soot for recycling. BANGALORE — At a cafe in the Bangalore’s central district, artist Pavithra Chowdappa doodles on canvas with a marker labeled AIR-INK. “This is a special marker,” she says, making black strokes across the white surface. “It’s the only environmentally friendly ink around. And it’s so…

India’s toilet culture needs a good scrubbing

Nikkei Asian Review

“Toilet ek Prem Katha” does its best to please the powers that be, and it appears to have succeeded. But it is not the story of my village or the many others like it that had come a long way well before Swachh Bharat Mission became a buzzword, and long before Modi came to power.…

Bangalore startup engineers urban forests

Nikkei Asian Review

Shubhendu Sharma founded Afforrest after being inspired by a speech by botanist Akira Miyawaki in Bangalore. (Photo by Anuradha Sharma) BANGALORE — Close by a diesel locomotive shed at Krishnarajapura in eastern Bangalore, a dense forest of 2,000 trees is growing Huddled together in just 600 sq. meters, the 10-month-old trees have an average…

Busy Indians outsource love letters to Bangalore startup

Nikkei Asian Review

BANGALORE — “From 54 rupees, one bicycle, one room & a kitchen and a lot of love, we started our journey.” Ankit Anubhav pens the opening lines of a love letter on ivory Italian paper with his black gel pen. It is a special message from a husband to his wife on their 25th wedding…

Political storm brewing for Darjeeling tea

Nikkei Asian Review

SILIGURI, India — Darjeeling’s tea sector is facing the loss of 40% of its revenues for the year, amid political turmoil over long-standing demands for a separate state in the Himalayan district. Read the story here.

Sanitary breakthrough brings hygiene and work to rural India

Nikkei Asian Review

SILIGURI, India — “My daughters shall not lead my life,” said Binita, shredding pine wood pulp with her fingers. She meant two things: They will not be driven into prostitution, and they will enjoy better feminine hygiene. READ MORE.

Nepal spoils Darjeeling’s tea party

Nikkei Asian Review

SILIGURI, Darjeeling, India — Two years ago, when Niraj Lama began stocking an unknown tea from Nepal at Happy Earth Tea, his family’s tea importing company in New York, it was with some trepidation. Jun Chiyabari Himalayan Autumn Bouquet, a light tea with notes of hay, honey and apples, came from a tiny Nepalese tea-growing…