“I had a variety of ‘daily schedules’; from waking up at six, fetching water from a hand-pump, washing clothes in the river, eating, visiting villages, coming home, eating again and sleeping, to waking up at five-thirty and spending an entire morning going to Netrang, looking for lunch in the fruit bazaar, adding sugar to the yogurt to make it taste nicer, trying to sleep in our own room, relishing English music, completing sudoku puzzles, eating dinner at the mess and finally sleeping late. I can recount all of the 45 days I spent in Gujarat from the time I woke up, how long I spent washing clothes, where I ate – all of it! Almost all of it, actually. ”
- India Fellow Janhvi Doshi, Mumbai (2007)

"My stay at Rampuria village is something that shines brightly over everything else. It was nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. I lived in a mud house without electricity with a couple, who were the sweetest people I’ve ever met. The most striking thing was that though they ate just rotis with chutney, or at the most one vegetable, during my stay, they got my favorite vegetables and cooked two dishes for dinner; got biscuits, namkeen for breakfast and did whatever they possibly could to make us feel comfortable. I was so moved by their hospitality. Honestly speaking, I hardly help my mom at cooking but there, I tried to help the couple in everything, from cooking to fetching water. I definitely learnt how to make best use of what I had and to stay contented with whatever I got. I learnt basic things like cooking, washing clothes. I learnt the importance of resources like water. I learnt to work in an organization, managing my time and money; the entire process of observing and then analyzing, looking into the root cause of a problem by stepping into the other persons’ shoe; coming up with practical solutions. Most importantly, I learnt that with power comes responsibility, so you really have to choose your words carefully."
- India Fellow Randeep Kaur, Delhi (2007)

"There were many sweet and sour experiences like learning to light the “chulha”, drawing water from the well and carrying it in “kalshis” to our home. A cat coming into our locked home and defecating on our clothes, coming face to face with the caste system in our village etc. Also the computer classes that were started had given the girls of the village an opportunity to speak up, participate and find their voice and we could see their confidence building up which was incredible. The first three weeks went by getting adjusted to the place, memorising the roads and the names of people around us and also exploring and discovering locations and people who were to be used later for shooting the documentary."
- India Fellow Aditi Kulkarni, Mumbai (2007)

“It came as a huge surprise to me to see the amount of tea consumed in a day. One person could easily consume five to nine cups of tea in a day without doing anything out of the usual. This was true not only of the local villagers, but also of the Community Organizers who worked with AKRSP(I). Even in Ahmedabad, students of Social Work from Gujarat Vidyapeeth would have a minimum of six cups of tea during the course of the day. Even the scarcity of the milk in the village did not deter tea consumption. I cannot count the number of houses that have served me tea without milk (which they would profusely apologize for). By the end of the trip, it was difficult to get through the day without at least two cups of tea.”
- India Fellow Zainab Kakal, Mumbai (2007)

"The times when I stayed back in the villages were the best times ever. I played with the village kids, helped in the farms, helped make rotis for dinner. I remember this one instance where even the neighbours came over to watch the Delhi girl pottering around in the kitchen. It was embarrassing because that was the one time when none of my rotis turned out to be round. There were many instances like this which touched my heart and made me rethink a lot of my ideas, values and my aims."
- India Fellow Ishita Samaddar, Delhi (2006)

"We met a girl in one of the villages who introduced me as her 'elder sister' in front of her friends. Although a very small incident, but being a city bred, it really touched me, (because over here we don't even know who our next door neighbor is!!) where as this little girl, who hardly knew me, introduced me as our elder sister. In some villages of Uttaranchal, caste system is so deeply rooted that it has different Bal Sabhas; one for upper caste and another for harijans."
- India Fellow Debdyuti Datta Gupta, Delhi (2006)

"The experience of being a part of this programme was a complete one. I had tested myself and I found things about myself that I didn't know before. I grew as an individual in the 6 weeks that I spent, and the experience really shaped my thinking and outlook towards life a great deal. The leap I took in the dark at the beginning brought a whole new light in my perception and attitude. It was an emotional roller-coaster, a little bit or a lot of learning from every single day, introspection, questioning, understanding, changing, accepting and growing."
- India Fellow Hazel Correa, Mumbai (2006)

"It was good to move out of the four walls and spend my vacations at a place which was entirely different from the one I used to live in rather than going to a hill station and doing photography. It broadens your horizons, enlarges your perspectives and gives you an opinion of your own, a first hand experience whose authenticity you can never question. Besides it gives u a chance to think-to realise what you are here for-no existentialism; just a mere thought."
- India Fellow Dashmeet Kaur, Delhi (2005)