Youth Fellowship Programme: Core Team
Director
Rajendra Jadhav
Rajendra Jadhav has joined PUKAR’s Youth Fellowship Project as Director, from August 2009. He brings with him a wealth of experience of working with youth in Maharashtra. Rajendra is a grassroots activist and has been actively associated with the students’ movement, youth and women’s movement as an organizer and grass-root leader since 1993. Rajendra was the state president of SatyashodhakVidhyarthiSangatana (1996-2003) and state convener of Dalit Hakka Abhiyan (2006-2009). His work mainly involved organization development and capacity building of youth activists.
Rajendra’s educational background in Mass Communication and Journalism makes him a prolific writer. He regularly contributes articles on stories of grass-root struggle and success for leading Marathi newspapers and magazines. He has written four books. One of his important books is SavitrichiGatha, in Marathi – which uses a traditional rural Marathi format to tell stories of SavitribaiPhule’s contribution in the field of education and women’s empowerment
He was a recipient of the Leader’s Quest (London) fellowship under the guidance of Action Aid, for which he studied issues surrounding Dalits – usage of ‘Village Dalit Reserve Budget’ at the state level and crisis intervention in atrocity cases. He has also completed research studies on Gender and Grass Root Governance. He is also a member of Krantisinha Nana Patil Academy – an academic forum with secular, democratic objectives – for the last 16 years.
Through his exposure to grass-root level work with youth, he has gained specific skills of facilitating on issues related to gender, governance, right to information, organization building and election strategies for free and just democratic India.
rajendra@pukar.org.in
Coordinators
Presently there are three co-ordinators in the Youth Fellowship core team. Each co-ordinator works with thirteen to fifteen number of groups to help them with intellectual inputs, strategic executions of workshops, community events etc. Co-ordinators help the research teams by motivating and hand holding throughout the process.
Kapil Chavan
A graduate of commerce from Mumbai University, Kapil has completed his diploma in Journalism from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. While freelancing for two major regional daily newspapers, he also participated in the PUKAR Youth Fellowship project over a period of two years; once as a youth fellow and next year as a catalyst and that experience inspired him to join YF as a coordinator.
He believes that as a coordinator of Youth Fellowship, the combination of his journalistic skills and his research skills would help him to spread this movement farther and deeper.
“In the previous two years as a youth fellow I was on one side of the table enjoying the process at a personal level. Since I have become the coordinator, I am on the other side of the table, where my sense of responsibility has been acute and that of enjoyment is different. Now instead of personal enjoyment I must make every effort to enhance the enjoyment for others. That is indeed a difficult task!”
kapil@pukar.org.in
Amrapali Dalvi
Amrapali has completed her post graduation in Social Work in the year 2000 from Tata Institute of Social Sciences; with specialization in Criminology and Correctional Administration. She has been part of interventions on various social issues with a rights based approach. She has more than 10 years of experience of working with various groups in difficult life situations and facing discrimination due to societal structures, where her role varied from volunteer, case worker, group worker, community worker, trainer and team leader.
amrapali@pukar.org.in
Sunil Gangavane
Sunil Gangavane is a post graduate of Psychology from Mumbai University. He has been associated with PUKAR since 2006 in various capacities including; as a catalyst, research associate and as a youth fellow. Given his experience as a youth fellow with the programme, Sunil felt drawn to joining PUKAR and facilitating the research journey of other youth. He is responsible for coordinating the Basic as well as Advanced Youth Fellowship.
sunilg@pukar.org.in
Office Manager
Rohan Chavan
An alumnus of the Youth Fellowship Programme (2010-2011), Rohan Chavan has joined PUKAR as Office Manager in February 2012. Rohan is a graduate from University of Mumbai, having studied towards a BCom degree. He also holds a Diploma in Advertising and Public Relations from Welingkar institute of Management and is currently pursuing a Diploma In Finance Management from the same institution. He volunteers with Adhishthan Foundation. His interests include photography and travelling to new places.
rohan@pukar.org.in
ICT Coordinator
Poonam Yewale
With around 5 years of diverse experience in the Corporate sector and freelancing, Poonam is now associated with PUKAR as an ICT Coordinator. She is educationally qualified as an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) and BE (Bachelor of Engineering) in IT (Information Technology). She holds a strong belief that Technology can be leveraged for the benefit of Humans and not replace / substitute the experience of human interactions. And this makes the opportunity with PUKAR very valuable in spreading the message.
poonam@pukar.org.in
Mythologies of Mumbai: Core Team
Research Team
Dr. Anita Patil-Deshmukh
Anita is the Principal Investigator for the Mythologies of Mumbai project. For further details please click here.
Reshma Ludbe
Reshma is no stranger to Dharavi and had, prior to joining the PUKAR team, already made inroads into Mumbai’s largest slum district’s colourful communities. An alumnus of NirmalaNiketan College of Social Work, she has been working in the field for over five years, a majority of these spent working with Dharavi’s youth groups. With a specialization in gender and micro-finance activities, she worked with ‘YUVA’ as a project co-ordinator on the livelihoods project in Dharavi. Over three years were spent studying pockets of this congested colony of hutments, economic activities and myriad backgrounds, on working with women’s self-help groups and micro-financing opportunities available to them. Reshma joined the Mythologies of Mumbai team in 2008, and currently she is the research associate for Dharavi portion of the project.
Swati Sanghavi
Swati, is a practicing architect and urban researcher. She is trained in architecture from University of Pune and has done her Masters in Urban Design from the City University, New York. She also attended University of Oregon, Eugene for a Masters in Community and Regional Planning. Swati joined PUKAR as a Research Associate for the Mythologies of Mumbai project in November 2009 and currently handles the Mapping section of the project using various tools like Open Street Maps, ArcGIS 9.3 and Google Maps.
Kiran Sawant
Kiran grew up in Mumbai’s western suburb of Andheri. After completing his BA in Marathi literature from Ruparel College, currently he is pursuing law from University of Mumbai, now in his second year Llb. Kiran joined PUKAR as a Youth Fellow in 2006. In his first year of Youth Fellowship Program he conducted research on the issues of caste and youth’s perception of it. In moving up the PUKAR ladder and acquiring greater responsibility, he became a youth catalyst in the second year heading research on HIV and AIDS. Mid-way through this he joined the Youth and Governance project a precursor to the Mythologies of Mumbai project, in which he was primarily interested. He studied and documented the Chinchpokli and Kalachowkie neighborhoods of Girangaon. Now also associated with the Healthy Cities Wealthy Cities project, Kiran spends all his hours working with PUKAR. With every year spent at PUKAR, he has built knowledge and skills and created for himself a vast storehouse of information.
Shrutika Shitole
Shrutika studied in Dadar’s King George School and went on to graduate in Marathi literature from Ruparel College. She continued studying the subject for her Masters in Marathi Literature at Mumbai University. Simultaneously she also pursued a course in Marathi journalism at St. Xavier’s College. Her first project as a barefoot researcher with Youth Fellowship Program was on caste; her team members and she realized that caste was a thread common to all. She moved on to the Youth and Governance project at PUKAR before finally taking on the Mythologies of Mumbai project as a Research Associate. Currently, Shrutika is also working with the Healthy Cities Wealthy Cities project. For the Mythologies of Mumbai project she documented the Lalbaug and Curry Road area of Girangaon.
Tejal Shitole
Tejal is one of PUKAR’s proud barefoot researchers who started in 2006 as a Youth Fellow and today working in different capacities. She has a B.Sc in Botany from Mumbai University. Her main focus through the Mythologies of Mumbai project lies in cultural heritage documentation, promoting the various local art forms and taking them to an international stage. She is also a Research Associate for Healthy Cities Wealthy Cities project and in future aspires to be a Public Health professional with her interest in women and child studies. As a Research Associate for the Mytholgoies of Mumbai project she was majorly involved in documentation of the Byculla surroundings of Girangaon.
Sonia Srinivasan
Sonia grew up in the suburbs of Mumbai, Thane. Her early school days in Holy Cross Convent were the building blocks that kept her always intrigued to learn more about the media. After graduating in English Literature from Kelkar College, Mulund Sonia joined Sophia Polytechnic in 2007 to pursue my media studies and received a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Communications Media. Sonia’s previous employers NDTV and CNBC TV-18 where she spent around three years put together, was one of her most enriching learning experiences.
Sonia loves dance and professionally trained for over two years with ShiamakDavar Institute Of Performing Arts. Photography, traveling, adventurous sports and watching world cinema is what keeps her going through the fast paced craziness of Mumbai.
Ajit Abhimeshi
Ajit came to PUKAR as a youth fellow with the Tarunaee project in 2004-2005 and conducted research on the changing fabric of Girangaon. His association with PUKAR is an extension of his experience of the city’s mill workers movement. Graduating from SIES College in Political Science, currently he is pursuing his MA-2 in Political Science from Mumbai University. Ajit has also worked with the Vidrohi Cultural Movement, taking socially significant songs and street plays across the country, to towns and villages. He then took these skills of reaching out to the GirniSamiti, with whom he has been associated for the past 7-8 years. For the Mythologies of Mumbai project, Ajit was responsible for the documentation of Elphistone, Parel and Lower Parel neighborhoods of Girangaon.
Swapnil Bhole
SwapnilBhole, a Conservation Architect by profession specializes in heritage structures of Himachal Pradesh. He is the founder of ‘SARAHAN’ – an organization that conserves art, architecture and culture. He has also authored a forthcoming book titled ‘Conservation Brief’ to be published by INCTACH, UK. Swapnil was the principal Aerial View Photographer for spatial and temporal archiving of the neighbourhoods of Girangaon and Dharavi on the Mythologies of Mumbai project for the year 2007- 2010.
Triveni Mane
Triveni has been a part of the Mythologies of Mumbai team for the last 3 years. She joined as a barefoot researcher through the Youth Fellowship Program. Triveni has a B.Com and Masters in Social Work from Pune University and currently she is in her first year of LLB at Mumbai University. Triveni also has a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Media Communication from YeshwantraoChavan University. Triveni is a committed social worker and has her own NGO “NirbahyParivartan” where she fights for the Rights of Domestic Worker and Rights of Education and Public Health. Her main interests lie in educating masses about their rights and empower. During her association with the project (2007-September 2010), Triveni documented the theBhoiwada and Naigaonneighbourhoods of Girangaon.
Advisory Team
Naresh Fernandes
NareshFernandes is a prolific writer and the editor-in-chief for the Time Out, India. He recently authored the title essay of Bombay Then, Mumbai Now, a photographic book about the city’s historical and contemporary development. He has previously co-edited Bombay MeriJaan, an anthology of writing about the city. Over his two-decade career, he has covered religious riots in Bombay in 1992-1993, examined erstwhile textile mill industrial neighborhood, and has written about the social dynamics of new neighbourhoods spring up on the edges of the city. He is currently working on a book on how jazz influenced Hindi film music in the middle of the last century.
Shilpa Phadke
ShilpaPhadke is a sociologist, researcher, writer and pedagogue. She is Assistant Professor at theCentre for Media and Cultural Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She has been educated at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, SNDT University and the University ofCambridge, UK. She conceptualised and led the Gender & Space Project at PUKAR from September 2003 to September 2006. Her co-authored book based on this research, titled, Why Loiter: Women and Risk on Mumbai’s Streets will be published later this year from Penguin Viking. She has published both in academic journals and in the popular print media. Her areas of concern include gender and the politics of space, the middle classes, sexuality and the body, feminist politics among young women and pedagogic practices. She loves the chaotic city of Mumbai and fantasizes that it will one day have a very large park.
Urban Aspirations in Global Cities
Principal Investigators for the Project
Dr. Anita Patil-Deshmukh, Principal Investigator
Dr. Anita Patil-Deshmukh brings a wide variety of talents and expertise to PUKAR. A physician by profession, Anita received her Masters in Public Health from Harvard University and worked as a faculty Neonatologist at a teaching institution in Chicago for 20 years. During her tenure she was also the Director of the Pediatric Residency program and Director of Continuous Medical Education for the Department of Pediatrics. She played a major leadership role within India Development Service (IDS) a pioneering organization in United States which supported multiple, small-scale, socioeconomic development projects across India.
Anita’s main research interest in has been to explore the relationship between poverty, social equity, and health. Since joining PUKAR, Anita has launched three new projects: The Youth Fellowship Project (funded by Sir Ratan Tata Trust, India), Mythologies of Mumbai (funded by the Ford Foundation), and PUKAR’s public health initiative (funded by the Rockefeller Foundation). She is also the Senior Consultant for the India China Institute (The New School, NY).
Professor David Bloom, Principal Investigator
Professor Bloom is Clarence J. Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography, and Chair of HSPH’s Department of Global Health and Population. Bloom’s leadership in the related fields of economics, demography, and public health, along with the participation of his colleagues and students at HSPH, provide a unique analytic asset for the project.
For a longer biography (very helpful), check out: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/david-bloom/
Professor Arjun Appadurai, Principal Investigator
Dr. Appadurai, NYU Professor of Anthropology and Founder of PUKAR, will provide the larger framework and context for understanding the role of the community in the research process. His guidance and experience will help to craft research questions and research teams that both address community concerns and engage community members in the research process.
Core Project Personnel at PUKAR
Dr. Ramnath Subbaraman, PUKAR Senior Research Fellow and NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellow for 2011-12
Ramnath is a graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine, and he completed residency in internal medicine at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). He completed his undergraduate training at the University of Chicago, where he majored in cultural anthropology. Ramnath has long had an interest in the intersection of clinical medicine, public health, social change, and human rights.
He previously spent a year performing HIV and tuberculosis related clinical research at the YRG Center for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE) in Chennai in 2005-06 as a National Institute of Health (NIH) Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholar. He has several peer-reviewed articles in journals, conference proceedings, and textbooks in the fields of HIV and tuberculosis. He has also spent time working with the Society for Promotion of Area Research Centers (SPARC), a slum development organization, in Mumbai. He has engaged in short-term clinical work in South Africa and Uganda. Ramnath joined PUKAR in September 2010. In 2012, he will join a fellowship at the Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospital program for clinical specialization in infectious diseases.
Ramnath’s work on PUKAR’s mental health project is being supported by a 2011-12 NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellowship. For more information, please see the following website: https://fogartyscholars.org/.
Kiran Sawant, Research Coordinator
Kiran grew up in Mumbai’s western suburb of Andheri. He completed a BA in Marathi literature from Ruparel College. He is currently pursuing law from the University of Mumbai and is now in his third year. Kiran joined PUKAR as a Youth Fellow in 2006. In his first year of the Youth Fellowship Program, he conducted research on the issue of youth’s perception of caste. He subsequently became a youth catalyst in the second year, heading a research project on HIV/AIDS. Mid-way through that research, he joined the Youth and Governance project, a precursor to the Mythologies of Mumbai project. He studied and documented the Chinchpokli and Kalachowkie neighborhoods of Girangaon. He is now one of the three coordinators of the Healthy Cities, Wealthy Cities project. Kiran has expertise in photography and has played a major role in the photo-documentation of the Kaula Bandar community. He also helped develop the team of barefoot researchers in Kaula Bandar, and he has facilitated research projects by several students from the Harvard School of Public Health. With every year spent at PUKAR, Kiran has built knowledge and skills and created for himself a vast storehouse of information.
Shrutika Shitole, Research Coordinator
Shrutika studied in Dadar’s King George School and went on to graduate in Marathi literature from Ruparel College. She continued studying the subject for her Masters in Marathi Literature at Mumbai University, where she was University Gold Medalist. Simultaneously she also completed a diploma in Marathi journalism at St. Xavier’s College. She subsequently joined PUKAR through the Youth Fellowship Program, where she engaged in research projects on the impact of caste on behavior and on students who simultaneously earn and learn. She moved on to the Youth and Governance project at PUKAR before finally taking on the Mythologies of Mumbai project as a Research Associate. For the Mythologies of Mumbai project she documented the Lalbaug and Curry Road area of Girangaon.
For the last three years, Shrutika has been working on Healthy Cities, Wealthy Cities, PUKAR’s public health research initiative. In that time, she has trained a team of 20 barefoot researchers, some of whom are from Kaula Bandar. Along with other team members, she implemented a 950 household survey funded by the Ford Foundation and coded every household in Kaula Bandar.
Tejal Shitole, Research Coordinator
Tejal has Bachelor’s of Science in Botany from Mumbai University. She also has a degree in software engineering and briefly worked for Indian Oil in software management. Tejal joined PUKAR in 2006 as a Youth Fellow, where she researched decision-making power among girls. She shifted to the Mythologies of Mumbai project, which focuses on documenting cultural heritage and taking local art forms to the international stage. In that project, she was involved in the documentation of the Byculla neighborhood of Girangaon. She is now a research coordinator with the Healthy Cities, Wealthy Cities project. In that capacity, she has helped develop the team of barefoot researchers who engage in data collection in Kaula Bandar. She has also facilitated research projects by students from the Harvard School of Public Health. Tejal has recently been developing expertise in Global Information Systems (GIS) mapping. In the future, she aspires to be a public health professional with specific expertise in women’s and children’s health.
Mahesh Nanarkar, Administrative Assistant and Data Manager
Mahesh has extensive prior experience in data management working for the Lal Bahadur Shashtri CAMSAR Merchant Navy Institute for the last four years. In addition, he also managed data at Marine Engineering and Research Institute for the last six years. Both of these institutes are part of the Indian Maritime University. Lal Bahadur Shashtri Marine Institute in Mumbai is Asia’s top university for the training of ship captains and engineers. He was a barefoot researcher through the Youth Fellowship program, where he researched the decision-making power of girls. He joined Healthy Cities, Wealthy Cities, PUKAR’s public health project, in May 2010. He has been responsible for managing and organizing the large volume of biometric data produced through this project. He also facilitates data collection in the field and along with the research coordinators.
