Imagine a day when women in our country will have absolute agency to take decisions in their personal life and to flourish professionally. Imagine a day when access to quality medical-facilities will not be a luxury reserved for the elite. Imagine a day when India’s populace will be so educated and skilled that it will not need to worry about roti, kapda, makaan: Instead it will be able to climb to the higher rungs of Maslow’s pyramid. We, at Samhita, work to see that day.

Gandhiji said: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” In that spirit, we strive for the day to arrive sooner. We agree that the above scenario constitutes a remarkable change. It’s more like a metamorphosis reflected on the cover of this book. Nevertheless, we are committed to help solve wicked socio-economic problems in our little ways.

Often, change is not fully grasped through numbers given the colossal issues we face. Here, stories of change serve as a beacon which spotlight the real lives impacted.

This is a collection of stories of change representative of the year gone by. These stories are divided into four segments:

1. Change in People: These accounts of transformation in our beneficiaries’ lives, is what keeps us going.
2. Change in Places: A corollary to the above segment, these stories give a sense of varied geographies reached.
3. Change in Partners: This section chronicles the symbiotic relationship we share with our partners.
4. Change in Processes: This part documents our efforts to bring about systemic shift to impact the entire ecosystem such that change sustains for a period beyond our intervention.

We hope that in the following pages, you meet someone whose perseverance inspires you, you travel to a place which is unlike any place you’ve travelled to, you partner with someone to support a cause area close to your heart, and you recognize the beauty in the interconnectedness of an ecosystem.