Storytellers would travel from village to village, narrating stories on lives, livelihoods, cultures, values, knowledge systems, codes of conduct, divisions of labour, food systems, sociopolitics, and their relationships to their natural habitats. Somewhere along the way, this old practice started dying out, leaving precious local knowledge in the past. We bring stories from local and indigenous communities about the rich rural life.
Rahul and Sampada run Farm of Happiness, a homestay about forty kilometres from Ratnagiri. Both left city careers to build this place. Arjun sat down with them to talk about food, culture, what children will and won't eat, how cropping patterns have shifted, and what climate change looks like as it moves from their fields into their kitchens. The conversation moves the way cooking does. Slow, unhurried thoughts spoken as they arrive. Listen in, see what it brings up for you.
Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea. The people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.
23 Feb 2026
Food, Families, and Leaving Home
Jayanth Phadke is a writer closely connected to the culture of the Konkan region. Arjun met him at a small restaurant over tea, and they spoke about food, families, and migration. The kind of conversation that unfolds slowly and stays with you.
Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea. The people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.
23 Feb 2026
What It Costs to Grow and Fish
When it comes to mangoes and fish, we often speak of them as delicacies. But the commercial side matters just as much. It shapes how we farm and how we fish, and in turn, what finally reaches our plates. This episode brings together two perspectives on the economics of food. One from land, one from sea.
Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea. The people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.
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