Of Butterflies and Buffaloes, Campaign Pamphlets and Solidarity

In 2021, I was employed at a non-profit organization in rural Rajasthan, India, that works on labour rights and migration. The organization works with people who belong primarily to the Adivasi or "Original Inhabitants", and lower caste communities in the region. My work at the organization entailed research and documentation, along with occasionally helping implement the organization's ongoing projects and programmes. This creative non-fiction piece is based on personal field notes I took when the organization was campaigning for a labour rights movement that was to be held in the state of Rajasthan in the months to follow. The campaign aimed to recruit people to join a travelling procession to create awareness about the labour laws in the state and demand accountability from politicians. My field notes document one such day that I spent with my colleagues, the Adivasis, and the lower caste communities with whom we worked. It is based on my observations of life around me and within me, as I attempt to address my learning process and discomfort with my privilege in that space. All names have been changed to maintain anonymity and protect the identities of the people and my colleagues, the latter of whom all belong to the marginalized communities in the region where we worked.