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# Harsha Vadlamani: Photojournalist, Filmmaker in Delhi and Hyderabad, India

## Sitemaps
[XML Sitemap](https://sriharsha.in/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Posts
- [Impossible to Overlook: A Photography Exhibition in London by Working Animals International](https://sriharsha.in/impossible-to-overlook-an-exhibition-in-london/): Earlier in December 2025 and January 2026, I spent several days in Rajasthan photographing camels hauling sand from riverbeds and pulling brick-laden carts at kilns for Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA). I also documented bullocks and buffaloes used for farm work in Mayurbhanj and Balasore in Odisha. Based in the UK, SPANA works to improve the welfare of working animals worldwide. The assignment offered a close look at the relationships between owners and animals, and how central these animals are to rural livelihoods, forming part of my broader documentary work with non-profits focused on rural economies and labour.
- [Heavy Lies the Grain // The Caravan Magazine](https://sriharsha.in/heavy-lies-the-grain-the-caravan-magazine/): It feels surreal to finally see my project, Heavy Lies the Grain, in print in the March 2025 issue of The Caravan magazine. When I first travelled to southern Punjab in 2016 to begin this work, I had no idea where it would take me. I couldn’t have imagined the paths it would open up, the people it would bring into my life, or the stories that would shape me along the way. Over eight years, it grew across more than 200 villages and hundreds of conversations with farmers. Their generosity, honesty and resilience carried this project forward. Thank you, Punjab, for being so kind and so deeply giving.
- [National Geographic Society APAC Explorer Leadership Workshop, Hong Kong/ Dec 2024](https://sriharsha.in/national-geographic-society-apac-explorer-leadership-workshop-hong-kong/): I have just returned from Hong Kong, where I attended the National Geographic Society's Explorer Leadership Workshop. At the Spotlight event, I shared my NGS-supported project from Punjab with other Explorers from across the Asia Pacific region, NGS staff, and supporters.
- [National Geographic Society: Exploring Inclusive Methodologies Convention in London](https://sriharsha.in/national-geographic-society-exploring-inclusive-methodologies-convention-in-london/): In December, the National Geographic Society invited me to attend their Exploring Inclusive Methodologies Convening in London. I have had the opportunity to speak about what is now an important part of my practice: obtaining informed consent from everyone I photograph.
- [Talk at Jesus College, University of Cambridge](https://sriharsha.in/talk-at-jesus-college-cambridge-december-2024/): I am very pleased to be talking about my long-term photography project from Punjab, India, at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, on December 01, 2024.
- [Talk at the Department of Design, University of Hyderabad](https://sriharsha.in/talk-at-the-department-of-design-university-of-hyderabad/): I have had the pleasure of speaking at the Department of Design, University of Hyderabad, on October 30, 2024, as part of their Design Lecture Series 2024. I shared my photography project on the downstream effects of the Green Revolution in Punjab, and on working on long-term projects set in rural India.
- [The Poison of the Gods: The Second Life of Sacrificial Flowers // GEO Germany](https://sriharsha.in/the-poison-of-the-gods-the-second-life-of-sacrificial-flowers-for-geo-germany/): A 2016 study found that approximately eight million tonnes of discarded flowers are dumped into India's rivers and other water bodies annually. This waste not only clogs and pollutes the rivers and harms aquatic life, but also contaminates the water with pesticides and chemical fertilisers used in flower cultivation. A few entrepreneurs are now tackling the problem by recycling flowers from places of worship to make incense and other products, while creating sustainable livelihoods for underprivileged women. For GEO Germany, I followed the lifecycle of flowers and one such entrepreneur, Poonam Sehrawat of Aaruhi Herbals in Gurgaon.
- [Talk at Centre for World Environmental History, University of Sussex](https://sriharsha.in/talk-at-centre-for-world-environmental-history-university-of-sussex/): I'm pleased to be talking about my project, Heavy Lies the Grain, at the Centre for World Environmental History, University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, on March 18, 2024. The project, supported by the National Geographic Society, is a long-term investigation into the downstream effects of the Green Revolution in Punjab, India.
- [After the Green Revolution at Queen Mary University of London](https://sriharsha.in/after-the-green-revolution-at-queen-mary-university-of-london-march-2024/): The South Asia Forum is pleased to welcome Harsha Vadlamani to speak on his ongoing photography project, After the Green Revolution. This work documents the challenges facing farmers in Punjab today, fifty years after new technology, seeds and pesticides revolutionised farming to establish the ‘food bowl of India’.
- [Why Tamil Movie Heroes Become Politicians // The Economist](https://sriharsha.in/why-tamil-movie-heroes-become-politicians-for-the-economist/): Kollywood, the Tamil-language movie industry, is based in Chennai and produces around 150 films a year. That is less than the 200 made by Bollywood, its Hindi rival. But in many ways, movies matter more in Tamil Nadu. The state has 5% of India's population but 12% of its screens. And in all but five years since 1967, the state's chief minister has had Kollywood roots. For The Economist, I photographed the frenzy around the release of Leo, Kollywood superstar Vijay's latest movie. Read the piece here.
- [The Crazy Rise of the Indian Airport Tycoon // Le Point](https://sriharsha.in/the-crazy-rise-of-the-indian-airport-tycoon-for-le-point/): Starting from the bottom of the ladder, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao, built GMR step by step into a powerful conglomerate with interests in construction, energy and air transport. The 73-year-old businessman, with humble beginnings in a town of 5000 in northern Andhra Pradesh, is now worth USD 1.9 billion, according to Forbes. I photographed the expansion work at T1 of New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport for Le Point. Read the piece here. For Le Point, I have also worked on two other stories: one about the French dairy major Lactalis's presence in India and another about the advances in India's space capabilities.
- [Freshwater Initiative Grant from the National Geographic Society](https://sriharsha.in/freshwater-initiative-grant-from-the-national-geographic-society/): I am thrilled to announce that I have received my second grant from the National Geographic Society. This grant from the Society's Freshwater Initiative will allow me to continue working on my project documenting the impact of the Green Revolution in Punjab, India. In the coming months, I will spend a lot of time in Punjab, paying special attention to the region's groundwater crisis and rise in cancers.
- [Meet India’s MrBeast — selfless saint or fame-hungry vlogger? // Rest of World](https://sriharsha.in/meet-indias-mrbeast-selfless-saint-or-fame-hungry-vlogger-rest-of-world/): Devudu, or God, is a word that comes up often when Harsha Sai's fans talk about him. The Indian YouTuber’s videos of stunt philanthropy, turning acts of charity and kindness into spectacles that garner millions of views and ad revenue, have earned him a loyal fanbase across southern India. One of his most popular videos showed him turning a poor barber into a 'millionaire'. In a more recent video, he very dramatically ate a grain of rice at a roadside eatery, before gifting a thick wad of notes to the woman who ran the place.
- [Dialogues with the Dead // Scientific American](https://sriharsha.in/sora-shamanic-practices-odisha-india/): In 2019, I read Piers Vitebsky's Living without the Dead: Loss and Redemption in a Jungle Cosmos, an ethnographic account of the Sora indigenous people of southern Odisha and their ancient and highly evolved religious and shamanic practices. Vitebsky's poignant prose describes how, in a relatively short span of about 30 years, most Sora moved away from the ancestral spirits that guided them from the underworld and embraced gods from distant lands. It was not an easy read, but it left me wanting to explore an opportunity to travel to these parts, even if only to meet the people I got to know so well through the book.
- [Chalo Dilli x Turbinebagh](https://sriharsha.in/chalo-dilli-x-turbinebagh/): Chalo Dilli is my multi-year-long project documenting the culture of protest and dissent in India, through portraits and interviews of protestors at Jantar Mantar, Delhi's designated protest site.
- [See how rural India has been overrun by the pandemic’s second wave // National Geographic](https://sriharsha.in/see-how-rural-india-has-been-overrun-by-the-pandemics-second-wave-national-geographic/): For the past few weeks, I have been travelling through remote parts of central India, documenting how the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic affected remote rural and Indigenous communities. The situation is dire—the public health infrastructure is inadequate, and several groups of volunteer doctors and medical staff have been stepping in to ensure that these communities receive care.
- [COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists Grant from the National Geographic Society](https://sriharsha.in/covid-19-emergency-fund-for-journalists-grant-from-the-national-geographic-society/): Earlier this month, on the last day of my COVID-19 isolation, I applied for a grant from the National Geographic Society. I just received the news that the Society has awarded me a COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists grant.
- [IKEA’s Strategy in India: If We Build It, They Will Come // The Wall Street Journal](https://sriharsha.in/ikeas-strategy-in-india-if-we-build-it-they-will-come-the-wall-street-journal/): I've recently had the opportunity to work on this story on IKEA Hyderabad for The Wall Street Journal with photo editor Stephanie Aaronson. Read the piece here.
- [Witnessing Displacement in the Narmada Valley](https://sriharsha.in/sardar-sarovar-project-displacement/): The view struck me. I hoped the GPS data from my new camera would confirm if it's what I thought it was. Later when I found that the GPS data wasn't updated since take-off, I turned to the internet. Retracing the flight's path from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad that February morning and approximating the location at the time the photo was taken, I was convinced my guess was right. I was looking at the backwaters of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river.
- [PV Sindhu, Badminton Champion // The Caravan Magazine](https://sriharsha.in/pv-sindhu-for-the-caravan-magazine/): I recently had the opportunity to photograph the badminton player PV Sindhu in between her intense practice sessions for the upcoming BWF World Championships in Glasgow (Update: she won a silver!).
- [For a Handful of Stardust // PDN](https://sriharsha.in/for-a-handful-of-stardust-featured-on-pdn/): For a Handful of Stardust, my long-term project photographing struggling actors in the Telugu-language film industry, has been featured on PDN's Photo of the Day.
- [Farming Death in Telangana // OPEN](https://sriharsha.in/farming-death-in-telangana-for-open/): “For as long as I can remember, mother never took a day off. Father slept all day and got drunk and beat her at night, but she would be back in the fields the next morning.”
- [The Perfect Day in Amritsar // Explore Parts Unknown](https://sriharsha.in/the-perfect-day-in-amritsar-for-explore-parts-unknown/): In January this year, I had travelled to Amritsar, Punjab on assignment for Explore Parts Unknown, a new venture by the celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, Roads and Kingdoms and CNN, to photograph the city's attractions and great food.
- [Cow Vigilantes in India // NEON Germany](https://sriharsha.in/cow-vigilantes-in-india-for-neon-magazine-germany/): On a November night when thousands of couples tied the knot and traffic choked the roads of Delhi, I struggled to keep up with this group of cow vigilantes as they ran recklessly through the traffic to stop and inspect any vehicle they suspected of smuggling cows. The story, for the German youth magazine NEON, also took Fiona Weber-Steinhaus and me to different parts of Haryana with a brief detour to Himachal Pradesh for a cup of chai in the middle of the night. Happy to see the story finally appear in the April issue of NEON. The magazine doesn't post their stories online, but you check out a selection of photos from the assignment here.
- [Honourable Mention: Imagely Fund 2016](https://sriharsha.in/honourable-mention-imagely-fund-2016/): I'm stoked to receive an honourable mention at the Imagely Fund 2016 for my work on the drought in the Marathwada region of India. The series is part of Raiyatnama, a longer project documenting agrarian crises and rural distress in various parts of India.
- [For a Handful of Stardust // The Indian Quarterly](https://sriharsha.in/for-a-handful-of-stardust-in-the-indian-quarterly/): Work on my website.
- [Cradle of the Classical // OPEN](https://sriharsha.in/cradle-of-the-classical-for-open/): Few photographs from a recent assignment for OPEN in the Thanjavur (Tanjore) region of Tamil Nadu, once home to the Trinity of Carnatic music- Tyagaraja, Syama Sastri and Muthuswamy Dikshithar.
- [Drought, Displacement, Debt // Roads and Kingdoms](https://sriharsha.in/marathwada-drought-on-roads-and-kingdoms/): Roads and Kingdoms has recently published my work on the drought and agrarian crisis in Marathwada, India, along with my words. The project can be seen in its entirety here on my website.
- [Judo in Gurdaspur, Punjab // The Wall Street Journal](https://sriharsha.in/in-indian-olympic-hopefuls-hometown-judo-throws-are-a-career-move-for-the-wall-street-journal/): In August 2016, I travelled to Gurdaspur in northern Punjab, close to the border with Pakistan, to photograph a judo training centre for The Wall Street Journal. It was my first trip to the state. The coach, Amarjit Shastri, a former Sanskrit teacher and trade union leader, had been training kids, mostly from impoverished Dalit families, in a barebones facility behind the local government school. For many families, the centre’s training regimen was a ploy to keep their kids away from drugs, and for a few, it was the prospect of a government job under a sports quota.
- [Why are India’s farmers Killing themselves? // CNN Photos](https://sriharsha.in/marathwada-drought-on-cnn-photos/): My photos of the drought and agrarian crisis in Marathwada were featured on CNN Photos, along with a short interview by John Sutter.
- [The Race to Train Workers to ‘Make in India’ // The Wall Street Journal](https://sriharsha.in/the-race-to-train-workers-to-make-in-india-for-the-wall-street-journal/): June 07, 2016. A training session on Root Cause and Corrective Action in progress at the Advanced Craftsmanship Center on the Tata Advanced Systems Limited campus at Adibatla in the south Indian city of Hyderabad. CREDIT: Harsha Vadlamani for The Wall Street Journal.
- [Waking up to Ahmedabad](https://sriharsha.in/waking-up-to-ahmedabad/)
- [Ek Nazar, a Group Exhibition by World Vision India in Delhi](https://sriharsha.in/ek-nazar-a-group-exhibition-by-worldvision-india-in-delhi/): Earlier this month, World Vision India sent me to Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, India to document problems being faced by HIV positive people in the wake of a severe shortage of Antiretroviral drugs. This work will be part of Ek Nazar, a group exhibition where I share space with with Srinivas Kuruganti and Mark Antony, on the occasion of World AIDS Day in Delhi. The exhibition will later travel to many cities across India.
- [Aftermath of Cyclone Hudhud in Visakhapatnam | Greenpeace India](https://sriharsha.in/aftermath-of-cyclone-hudhud-in-visakhapatnam-greenpeace-india/): On the 12th of October 2014, the city of Visakhapatanam along with its neighbouring coastal villages in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India witnessed a climate catastrophe of an unimaginable scale Cyclone Hudhud  with wind speeds close to 220kmph ransacked the entire landscape of the city leaving people homeless and stranded.
- [Feeding the Hungry at Yousufain Dargah](https://sriharsha.in/feeding-the-hungry-at-yousufain-dargah/): Looking for a quick cup of chai after a walk around the Yousufain Dargah in Hyderabad's Nampally locality, I spotted a brightly painted cafe occupying a part of an old building adjacent to the dargah. As I walked in, wondering if they also served Irani chai at what looked more like a small restaurant, I almost missed the group of men sitting on their haunches by the door. The sight was intriguing, for many of the men seemed to be dressed reasonably well to be beggars and their backs against the road confirmed they were not daily labourers either.
- [A BMW Mobile Showroom in Rajkot // Capital Germany](https://sriharsha.in/a-bmw-mobile-showroom-in-rajkot/): BMW cars being sold from a tent? Capital, Germany's oldest business publication, had commissioned me in September to shoot photographs for a story on German companies adapting innovative marketing strategies in India. When the brief came in, I found among other things, a BMW showroom in a tent in Rajkot, Gujarat. I went there imagining a typical red and blue patterned desi shamiana with people standing in a queue to buy cars.
- [Telangana: Osmania Realizes a Dream // Tehelka](https://sriharsha.in/telangana-osmania-realizes-a-dream/): It was clear by then that the announcement was going to happen that very evening. The Congress Working Committee meeting was underway in Delhi and everybody seemed to know what the outcome would be- the decision to go ahead with bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and create a separate state of Telangana.
- [Humourless in Hyderabad // OPEN](https://sriharsha.in/humourless-in-hyderabad-open-magazine/): The Hasya Yoga Club, a motley group of businessmen and professionals, meets at the KBR National Park in the heart of Hyderabad everyday with a singular purpose- to laugh. Between 6:30 and 7 in the morning, members of the group assemble at a small patch of open space inside the park and after a brief stretching session, laugh in different ways.  Like a lion, for example, though I dont recall seeing a lion laughing in all those Nat Geo and Animal Planet shows on TV. But I digress. All was well until the state Forest Department, concerned that the unnatural sounds made by the group might disturb the whatever few birds and animals that are left inside the park, ordered them to laugh elsewhere.
- [In Need of Blood Money // OPEN Magazine](https://sriharsha.in/in-need-of-blood-money-open-magazine/): I have shot these photos on assignment for OPEN Magazine in November 2012. Five women from Andhra Pradesh's Karimnagar district had earlier approached the State Human Rights Commission seeking permission to sell their kidneys, in a bid to raise the blood money needed to have their husbands released from a prison in the middle-east.  The husbands, who were not paid wages for many months by their employers in the middle-east, had resorted to a burglary along with another Indian and four Pakistanis and killed a Nepalese security guard in the process.
- [Postcards from the Andhra-Orissa Border](https://sriharsha.in/postcards-from-the-andhra-orissa-border/): In August last year, I was commissioned by a national magazine to accompany their reporter on a trip to the Andhra-Orissa border, or AOB as it is popularly called. The story was to be on the Janatana Sarkars (people's governments) that the Maoists have been trying to set up in the region, hoping to strengthen their hold over the tribals and establish a liberated zone. I was told not to expect many photo opportunities as the story was a hazy idea and the reporter wasn't sure how it would shape up. I went nevertheless, not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to visit a region I have heard so much about but never been to.
- [Urban Ingenuity // The Financial Times](https://sriharsha.in/urban-ingenuity-financial-times/): Financial Times (UK) had commissioned me in June 2012 to produce a series of reportage photographs on an initiative in Hyderabad's  Nandanavanam Colony. Most of the women here happen to cook on traditional wood-fired stoves, which causes various issues related to the respiratory organs and burning of eyes.  APMAS, a city-based NGO, had launched a pilot project in the slum where women were encouraged to form LPG Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and avail new connections. The initiative was a finalist for FT's Urban Ingenuity Awards in Energy category.

## Pages
- [NGS Fisheries](https://sriharsha.in/ngs-fisheries/): Fishermen prepare to head out into the Bay of Bengal on their small motor-powered sailboats from Pudimadaka, Andhra Pradesh, India. A nearby textile park has laid out a pipeline deep into the sea here, directly discharging untreated effluents that forced fish populations to move away from the shore.
- [Mentorship](https://sriharsha.in/mentorship/): Mentorship Sessions for Young Documentary Photographers
- [Corporate and Personal Branding Lifestyle Portraits](https://sriharsha.in/corporate-and-personal-branding-lifestyle-portraits/): I capture portraits for the individuals shaping modern business. My photography brings an editorial perspective to executive branding, backed by 18 years of experience photographing for publications like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Le Point, Entrepreneur, Capital and Mint to tell the stories of today’s leaders. I have also photographed campaigns for brands such as Facebook, Apple, Reckitt, ServiceNow, Salesforce, Systra and Keolis.
- [Protected: Facebook](https://sriharsha.in/facebook/): FACEBOOK
- [Black Baza Coffee](https://sriharsha.in/black-baza-coffee/): BLACK BAZA COFFEE
- [Systra India](https://sriharsha.in/systra-india/): SYSTRA INDIA
- [KRSMA Estates / Corporate Branding Photography, India](https://sriharsha.in/krsma-estates/): KRSMA ESTATES
- [Projects](https://sriharsha.in/projects/): Heavy Lies the Grain
- [YouTube India / Business Documentary Photography](https://sriharsha.in/youtube-india/): YOUTUBE INDIA
- [Systra / Capa Pictures](https://sriharsha.in/systra-capa/): Representative images from previous shoots for Systra and Capa Pictures in several locations across India.
- [Punjab Cancers](https://sriharsha.in/punjab-cancers/):  
- [News](https://sriharsha.in/news/)
- [Dialogues with the Dead](https://sriharsha.in/dialogues-with-the-dead/): Sora shaman Lokami channels Sakana Soboro, who passed away three months ago after a brief illness and now speaks through her with his relatives. The chicken, the clothes on his shoulder and the umbrella are all offerings from his family. Jorrepi, Odisha, India.
- [TN Honour Killings](https://sriharsha.in/tn-honour-killings/): I Krishnaveni, 40, mother of Ilavarasan, at her home in Natham in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu. January 09, 2018.   Ilavarasan's grave at Natham village in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu. January 09, 2018.   Ilavarasan's grave at Natham village in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu. January 09, 2018.   A police picket at Nallampalli in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, where tensions have erupted following an inter-caste marriage between M Rajkumar and J Priyanka. January 09, 2018.   Chitra Venkatachalam, 48, mother of Gokulraj, poses for a portrait in Omalur in Salem, Tamil Nadu. January 09, 2018. S Samikallu, 60, and S Chinnapullai, 55, father and stepmother of Murugesan, pose for a portrait at their home in Kuppanatham in Virudhachalam, Tamil Nadu. January 10, 2018.   S Samikallu, 60, and S Chinnapullai, 55, father and stepmother of Murugesan, pose for a portrait at their home in Kuppanatham in Virudhachalam, Tamil Nadu. January 10, 2018.   S Samikallu, 60, and S Chinnapullai, 55, father and stepmother of Murugesan, at their home in Kuppanatham in Virudhachalam, Tamil Nadu. January 10, 2018.   S Panchanathan, 57, and S Gandhimathi, 45, parents of Seetha, pose for a portrait near their home in Adivaraganatham in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. January 10, 2018.   S Samikallu, 60, and S Chinnapullai, 55, father and stepmother of Murugesan, at their home in Kuppanatham in Virudhachalam, Tamil Nadu. January 10, 2018.   G Rosinavathi, 50, Amirthavalli's mother, poses for a portrait at her home in Kizhamarudhur in Tiruvarur, Tamil nadu. January 11, 2018.   G Rosinavathi, 50, Amirthavalli's mother, at her home in Kizhamarudhur in Tiruvarur, Tamil nadu. January 11, 2018.   K Kuruvammal, 50, Vijayalakshmi's mother, at her home in Cholapuram in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu. January 12, 2018.   K Kuruvammal, 50, Vijayalakshmi's mother, poses for a portrait at her home in Cholapuram in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu. January 12, 2018.
- [Battling the Wave: COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural India](https://sriharsha.in/covid-19-in-rural-india/): A temporary barricade put up at a coronavirus-control checkpoint at Sirpur, along the state border between Telangana and Maharashtra. May 08, 2021.
- [Newsletter](https://sriharsha.in/newsletter/)
- [India Farmer Protests](https://sriharsha.in/india-farmer-protests/): In 2020, Punjabi farmers marched to Delhi on their tractors and laid siege to the city’s borders for over a year, protesting against three new farm bills that were passed by the central government. Among the bills’ several contentious clauses, farmers were most worried about the withdrawal of a minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce. They were afraid private players would offer low prices in the absence of a regulatory mechanism, pushing many of them out of farming and eventually leading to corporate takeover of agriculture.
- [Privacy Policy](https://sriharsha.in/privacy-policy/): PRIVACY NOTICE
- [Amaravati](https://sriharsha.in/amaravati/): A makeshift office set up by realtors in agricultural fields by the road in Venkatapalem in the Amaravati Capital Region, Andhra Pradesh. November 2014.
- [Killing Fields](https://sriharsha.in/telangana-farming-crisis/)
- [Prints](https://sriharsha.in/photography-prints-sale-india/): All images are printed on Hahnemühle Bright Rag museum-quality paper.
- [NGO/Non-Profit Photographer](https://sriharsha.in/non-profit-ngo-photography-india/): For HCL Foundation, I photographed the impactful work of several leading NGOs and non-profits across India in environmental sustainability, livelihood generation, healthcare, and education. These organisations were finalists for the prestigious HCL Grant, which recognises and supports excellence in India’s development sector. The photographs were featured in the HCL Grant coffee table book, published by Roli Books, showcasing grassroots innovation and social impact.
- [Multimedia](https://sriharsha.in/multimedia-journalist-india/): Instant loan apps promise easy money. Millions of people have taken the cash, but many have found themselves trapped in a nightmare of blackmail, extortion, and abuse. This BBC documentary investigation reveals that, in the last three years, more than 60 people in India have taken their own lives after being threatened or humiliated by loan apps. But how does the scam work? And who is profiting from this abuse? #BBCEye goes undercover to take you inside the loan app scam - and to expose the people making money from misery, fear and shame.
- [Waters Close Over Us](https://sriharsha.in/narmada-valley-displacement/): A pickup truck carrying passengers back from the weekly market in Nisarpur, Madhya Pradesh, drives through the rushing backwaters of the Sardar Sarovar Dam reservoir. September 11, 2017.
- [Heavy Lies the Grain](https://sriharsha.in/aftermath-of-green-revolution-in-punjab/): Kanak means gold in Sanskrit. In Punjabi, a language that evolved from Sanskrit, it has come to mean wheat.
- [Cow Vigilantes in India for NEON](https://sriharsha.in/cow-vigilantes-in-india-for-neon-magazine-germany/): Cows at Shri Shyam Gaushala in Marranwala near Panchukla, Haryana, India. Naveen Sharma with a cow he calls ‘Honey Singh’, named after a popular singer, at Shri Shyam Gaushala in Marranwala near Panchukla, Haryana, India. Kamal Devi, 30, a worker at Shri Shyam Gaushala in Marranwala near Panchukla, Haryana, India, carries away cow dung from the shelter. A worker shows an identification tag attached to a calf’s ear Cows at Shri Shyam Gaushala in Marranwala near Panchukla, Haryana, India. Mrityunjay Singh, 25, washes the animal ambulance at Shri Shyam Gaushala in Marranwala near Panchukla, Haryana, India. Cow vigilantes associated with the Bharatiya Gau Raksha Dal at a checkpoint at Marranwala near Panchukla, Haryana, India. Pupinder Kumar, 21, associated with the Bharatiya Gau Raksha Dal, inspects passing vehicles for cows at a checkpoint in Marranwala near Panchukla, Haryana, India. Naveen Sharma of the Bharatiya Gau Raksha Dal observes an approaching vehicle while on a night patrol near Panchukla, Haryana, India. Naveen Sharma of the Bharatiya Gau Raksha Dal checks for updates on whatsapp while on a night patrol near Panchukla, Haryana, India. Activity around a beef biryani seller’s stall at Ghasera in Haryana, India. A Muslim man emerges from a mosque after offering their afternoon prayers at Doha in Haryana, India. Mohammed Ashfaq and his brother Rayees are cattle sellers from Doha in Haryana, India. A young Kushti wrestler exercises at the Baba Nihalnath Gaudham Gauvansh Chikitsalay in Rohini, New Delhi, India. Sanpreet Dev is associated with Jeevrakshni Preet Foundation in Rohini New Delhi, India. A view of the highway that connects New Delhi with Haryana from a flyover at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Mukesh Moni Jaat, 26, Rakesh Pandit, 24 and Banti Tomar, 25, look for signs of vehicles carrying cattle at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Banti Tomar, 25, jumps in top of a vehicle carrying buffaloes to look for cows at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Members of a brass band watch cow vigilantes intercept a vehicle from their bus at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Banti Tomar, 25, stands on a metro pillar to look for vehicles carrying cattle at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Cow vigilantes walk swiftly towards a vehicle they suspect of cattle transport at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Buffaloes in a vehicle intercepted by cow vigilantes at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Cow vigilantes confront the driver of a vehicle carrying cattle at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Banti Tomar, 25, climbs on top of a moving vehicle carrying cattle at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. Banti Parmar, 26, Mukesh Moni Jaat, 26, climbs on top of a vehicle carrying cattle while Rakesh Pandit, 24, asks the driver questions at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India. ,Rakesh Pandit, 24, and Mukesh Moni Jaat, 26, look for signs of vehicles carrying cattle from the flyover at Peeragarhi in New Delhi, India.
- [Judo in Punjab for the WSJ](https://sriharsha.in/judo-in-gurdasur-punjab-wall-street-journal/): Judokas practice in the evening at the Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 04, 2016. The Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 04, 2016. A judoka takes ‘ice bath’ in a drum filled with ice and water as others wait for their turn at the end of their day’s practice at the Judo Traini ng Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 04, 2016. Amarjit Shastri is the coach at the Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. Judokas practice at the Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. A judoka climbs up a rope to increase grip and strength as part of his training regimen at the Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. A game of basket ball in progress at a court next to the Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. Rohit, 15, as he gets ready to leave for his morning judo training session, at his house in the Nangalkotli neighbourhood of Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. Prizes won by Rohit, 15, and Sajan, 14, share space with their old photos and religious posters in their housein the Nangalkotli neighbourhood of Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 04, 2016. Rohit ,15, helps a fellow judoka with his cool-down stretches after their morning practice at the Judo Training Centre in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. Rohit, 15, and Sajan, 14, have their breaksfast before leaving for school in the morning at their house in the Nangalkotli neighbourhood of Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. Rohit, 15, and Sajan, 14, walk to school from their house in the Nangalkotli neighbourhood of Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016 Rohit, 15, and Sajan, 14, play with their neighbour’s son before a siesta at their house in the Nangalkotli neighbourhood of Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. Young judokas do chin-ups as part of their training regimen at the Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 04, 2016. Sajan, 14, during his evening judo practice at the Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 05, 2016. A parent waits to pick up his son after the day’s judo practice at the Judo Training Center in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. August 04, 2016.
- [Chalo Dilli](https://sriharsha.in/chalo-dilli/): Barricades put up to prevent protestors from proceeding past the designated protest area at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. April 9, 2017.
- [Parched: Climate Change and Agrarian Crisis in Marathwada, India](https://sriharsha.in/marathwada-drought/): A woman uses a tumbler to fill her pot from a small puddle on the bed of a well in Atola in Latur, Maharashtra. May 04, 2016.
- [Rohith Vemula Protests](https://sriharsha.in/rohith-vemula-protests/): A portrait of Rohith Vemula at an art show put up by students at the protest site in the University of Hyderabad on January 21, 2016. “I always wanted to be a writer. A writer of science, like Carl Sagan. At last, this is the only letter I am getting to write,” he wrote in his suicide note. “The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust. In (e)very field, in studies, in streets, in politics, and in dying and living.” The funeral pyre of Rohith Vemula at the Amberpet crematorium in Hyderabad on January 18, 2016. Fearing a law and order situation, police have secretly cremated his body in the presence of a few family members, against their wishes and tradition of burying their dead. The shopping complex area, where Rohith and four of his friends pitched a camp after being suspended, turned into a protest site after his suicide. Twelve Dalit students have killed themselves since the university was established in 1974 and an alarming six of them since 2008, claim students affiliated with the Ambedkar Students Association. January 21, 2016. A portrait of Dr. BR Ambedkar lies among Rohith’s other possessions at Velivada, where he camped for two weeks before killing himself. A photo taken on January 04, 2016 shows Rohith walking out of the hostel along with his friends, holding the oversized portrait in his left hand. Raja Chaitanya Vemula, Rohith’s brother, holds their mother Radhika as she broke down upon seeing the memorial erected at the protest site on January 19, 2016. Born into a Dalit family but adopted by a Vaddera family, Radhika was married off when she was 14. A single mother, she worked as farm labor and tailor to provide for her three children and even studied together with her sons to finish her graduation. An information desk was setup by students at the protest site. January 21, 2016. A friend accompanies Vaikhari Aryat, one of the seven students who sat on an indefinite hunger strike, at the protest site on January 21, 2016. Students form a barrier around the freshly erected memorial for Rohith Vemula to protect it from the crowds as Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was about to arrive to console Rohith’s family on January 19, 2016. A poster portraying Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani as a demon lies abandoned after a protest by NSUI on January 30, 2016. The students have been demanding the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor Podile Apparao and action against ABVP leader Susheel Kumar and Union Ministers Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani. A group of students sing protest songs in between speeches at the protest site on January 21, 2016. Students break into tears as Vijay Kumar, one of the five students barred from public spaces in the university, talks emotionally about the hardships he had to endure growing up as a Dalit on January 22, 2016. Students manning the information desk look at a poster that was taken down by volunteers for using offensive language on January 21, 2016. Students from the Arts Faculty at University of Hyderabad work on an art installation at the protest site on January 25, 2016 A student raises slogans as some faculties visit the protest site on January 21, 2016. The students argue that Rohhith’s life could have been saved had the faculty intervened during the period when Rohith and his friends camped at the shopping center for two weeks. Angry students watch other raising slogans against a section of the university faculties’s visit to the protest site on January 21, 2016. A volunteer tries to push away a protester who was raising slogans against some faculties’s visit to the protest site on January 21, 2016. A little away from the protest site, some students read Anton Chekhov’s The Lottery Ticket on January 30, 2016. A blood pressure monitor is attached to the arm of a student on hunger strike on January 23, 2016. University police discuss strategy to move fasting students on the University Health Centre on January 23, 2016. Students warn university police against making an attempt to move fasting students away on January 23, 2016. University police forcibly move a fasting student from the protest site on January 23, 2016. Uma Maheshwar Rao resists as doctors try giving him food and medicines at the university medical center after the police disrupted their fast on January 23, 2016. Students from other universities raise slogans in support of the protests, responding to the Chalo HCUcall given by the Joint Action Committee of student bodies demanding justice for Rohith Vemula on January 25, 2016. A visitor writes a postcard to the President of India seeking his intervention at the protest site on January 30, 2016. Volunteers of the Samata Sainik Dal (Army of Soldiers for Equality), a social organization founded by Dr. BR Ambedkar with an aim to establish equality among Indians by annihilating caste, pay their respects to Rohith Vemula on what would have been his 27th birthday on January 30, 2016 at the protest site.
- [Tearsheets](https://sriharsha.in/tearsheets/): Heavy Lies the Grain
- [Portrait Photographer India](https://sriharsha.in/editorial-corporate-portraits-india/): PV Sindhu, Badminton Player. Cho Dharman, Tamil Writer. Pete Lau, CEO, One Plus. Hannes Bengs, Founder, Pure Waste. Amitabh Kant, former CEO of India's NITI Ayog. Harshavardhana Gourineni, Executive Director, Amara Raja Group. David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister, UK. Upasana Kamineni-Konidela, Vice Chairperson CSR , Apollo Hospitals. Koneru Humpy, Chess Player. Yogendra Yadav, Psephologist and Politician. Madhav Gadgil, Ecologist. Ezhumalai. Sumeet Mathur, VP and Country Head, ServiceNow. Shruti Kapila, Historian. Yoginder Alagh, Economist. Tarang Jain, CEO, Varroc. Sridhar Vembu, CEO, Zoho Corporation. Gangadhara Tilak Katnam, Citizen Activist. Kallol Datta, Fashion Designer. R Praggnanandhaa, Chess Player. Nand Kishore Singh, Chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission of India. Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao, Founder Chairman, GMR Group. Thota Vaikuntam, Painter. Poonam Sehrawat, Founder, Aaruhi Herbals. Keerthy Suresh, Actor. Anand Patwardhan, Documentary Filmmaker. Anu Acharya, CEO, MapMyGenome. Dukku Chamaru Tofa, Gond Adivasi Elder.
- [Kinara](https://sriharsha.in/kinara/): The Brahmaputra, which in 1916 was only 5km wide and lay 6km from Rohmoria, expanded to as wide as 19.7 km in the east of the village in 2008. Novojyoti Gogoi (15) and Dilip Gogoi (16) took turns cycling the 15km distance from their home in Nadwa to the river at Litting, just to spend some time by the bank. Illegally logged timber waiting to be sawed at a mill near Garpara. Rupan Gogoi (34) fishes in the Brahmaputra at Litting. An abandoned brick kiln near Garpara. Villagers from Garpara walk along the Tamuli Ali, a 400-year old road that once connected the nearby towns of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. Most parts of the road had been lost to erosion, rendering Rohmoria, which was once a buzzing town, a backwater. Workers clear weeds at a tea plantation in Chamuni Notungaon before the beginning of the leaf collection season. Photographs taken by the family of Anil Saikia (48) show the last chunks of their house being devoured by the Brahmaputra. The Saikias, who owned about 26 acres of land, dismantled their house in Garpara Gaon and relocated to Khagrijan after it became clear that their properties would be lost to the river very soon. Lombhit Dangaoriya (42) of Genesuk waits for a boat to take him to his fields on a sandbank at Polo Bhonga. Having had lost his 4 acres to the river, he began cultivating an unclaimed piece of land on the sandbank but a boat ride to the field costs Rs. 20 and takes 2.5- 3 hours each way. He returned home after failing to find a boat for over an hour. Workers haul a log from a boat on the riverbank at Rohmoria. The riverbanks around Rohmoria are littered with several illegal sawmills where wood felled upstream in the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh is cut and sold in local markets. Villagers attribute the spurt in the number of these sawmills to the lack of any dependable source of livelihood in the region. Dimbeshwar Das (37) of Rohmoriya segregates his catch from the nets he laid on the river overnight. “Once I was in the middle of the river when the flood came in. My boat drifted beyond Dibrugarh and when I returned two days later, I was even featured in the papers. I have been fishing since I was 12; the river was a 4-5 hour walk earlier but it only takes 5 minutes now.” Gopal Saikia (60) of Garpara relocated after the river, which was once 10km away, came threateningly close to his 20 acres of land. “The land was so fertile that we could work hard for one year and relax for the next three years.” He now runs a business in the village. Fishermen have a meal before heading to the markets with their night’s catch at Litting. The family of Rupa Singh (21) and Sonia Singh (18) lives at Kochwanipathar, towards the end of the 9km long erosion-prone zone at Rohmoria. Rupa, now married for a year, stays with her in-laws at Dibrugarh and hopes her parents move to Dibrugarh too, for there is no fear of flooding or erosion there. Elajer Kashyap (35) chops bamboo to build a temporary structure in the tea estate he works in at Kochwanipathar. Ranjit Dang (35) of Litting ran a general store for sixteen years before it joined the river three years ago; he has since set up a new shop not very far from where the old one stood. He says the largest selling commodity in his store is country liquor, which he makes in a small structure behind the shop. “People here work hard from 8 AM to 5PM and need something to take them away from the pain.” Villagers from Borotichuk and around gather to witness Bhavana, a traditional night-long play on the life of Lord Krishna. Dipunjoy Gohain (34) is the current secretary of Rohmoria Ban O Khonia Protirodh Sangram Manch, a body of villagers from the region fighting erosion. Fed up with lack of response from the state, the villagers have tried controlling the erosion themselves and also imposed a blockade on oil production in the region on several occasions. Sudeso Gohain (55) and Pitamber Gohain (50) are the brothers of Bolu Gohain, a school teacher from Garpara. On March 31, 2000 Bolu left school early to join villagers erecting bamboo dampeners to check erosion and was killed when a huge chunk of mud from the scarp collapsed on him. “He died an ordinary man but when his body was brought back from the hospital over 5000 people jostled to carry him on their shoulders. Our loss is personal but the agitation has gained momentum after his death. Villagers worship him as a martyr,” says Sudeso. At Nagakholi, downstream from Rohmoria, workers put up sand bags as part of a protection plan against erosion. Kesav Boruah (16) of Garpara is a student of Class 10. For most youth from the region, the future lies in salaried jobs in the towns, away from farming, fishing and the fear of erosion. Villagers tie prayer clothes around the trunk of an old tree that once lined the Tamuli Ali highway, hoping it would save the tree from falling off into the river.
- [The Muria Isn’t Home](https://sriharsha.in/internally-displaced-murias/): At Balimera in Andhra Pradesh, a Muria settlement, villagers spend an afternoon under a banyan tree.
- [Of Homeland and Belonging](https://sriharsha.in/assam-violence-aftermath/): Worried by rumours of attacks on Assamese working in other parts of India, many headed back to their hometowns in Assam. On board the Falaknuma Express heading to Kolkata from Hyderabad, many travelled unreserved in crowded coaches, even if it meant standing throughtout the 30-hour journey. The road from Dotma to Kokrajhar, Assam. A Bodo boy with wild rabbits caught during a hunt at Geolong Bazar in Kokrajhar, Assam. A burnt house that belonged to a Bodo family at Tulshibil in Kokrajhar, Assam. A Bodo villager at Bhawraguri in Kokrajhar, Assam. Residents of the Dotma Relief Camp offer their afternoon prayers at a makeshift mosque inside the camp. A National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Progressive) militant at the peace camp in Serfanguri. A child plays with a wooden gun in Aminkhata, Kokrajhar, Assam. A poster put up on the doors of a shop in Bazaar Road, Kokrajhar, Assam warns locals against buying from or engaging Bangladeshi migrants in any kind of work. Ehfaz Ali and Zarin Bibi at the site where their house once stood in Nothunpara, Kokrajhar, Assam. Mohammed Ghiasuddin goes fishing in the Guruphela near Kurashakati, Kokrajhar, Assam while his son watches on. A red flag outside a house serves as a sign of presence of Bodo families in a Bodo-majority neighbourhood in Bhowraguri, Kokrajhar, Assam. A Bodo woman outside her house in Tulshibil, Kokrajhar, Assam. A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp at Tulshibil, Kokrajhar, Assam. Delayed intervention by the central forces is thought to be one of the reasons for large scale violence during the riots. A young Bengali Muslim fetches firewood at the Dotma relief camp in Kokrajhar, Assam. Bodyonath Mushahary in a grove owned by his family in Tulshibil, Kokrajhar, Assam. Fleeing the village while under attack by Bengali Muslims, Bodyonath forgot to take his mother along. He returned eight days later with police escort, only to find her a part of her badly mutilated body lying in the fields. Locals cross a wooden bridge across the Guruphela river between Bhawraguri and Tulshibil in Kokrajhar, Assam. Munni from Kurshakati, Kokrajhar, Assam warms herself in the afternoon sun at the small potatao farm owned by her family. A Bodo woman in her house at Malgaon, Dhubri, Assam. A Bengali Muslim girl inside a temporary shelter at Kurshakati in Kokrajhar, Assam. Assamese translations for Assimilated and Assimilation. Half-burnt diary from a destroyed Bodo house, Bhowarguri, Kokrajhar, Assam. A Bengali Muslim woman herds her cattle back across the Guruphela near Kurshakati, Kokrajhar, Assam. Ranu Basumatary inside her newly reconstructed house at Tulshibil, Kokrajhar, Assam. Zuram Ali gathers materials needed to rebuild his destroyed house in Kurshakati, Kokrajhar, Assam.
- [For a Handful of Stardust](https://sriharsha.in/krishna-nagar/): Outside a wigmaker’s in the Krishna Nagar neighbourhood of Hyderabad. May 2012.
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- [Bio](https://sriharsha.in/photojournalist-in-india/): I am an independent photojournalist, filmmaker, and National Geographic Explorer based between New Delhi and Hyderabad. My work explores food systems, environment, migration, and health, grounded in long-term engagement with rural and indigenous communities across India.
- [High Tension Lines](https://sriharsha.in/high-tension-lines/): A villager at a coconut grove owned by his family, Talagana Puttuga, Sompeta. Farmers leave for work in the morning, Akasha Lakkavaram, Vadditandra. Ash from the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant’s 400MW captive thermal power plant flies into the neighbouring Appikonda village. The village is also the proposed site for a 1040 MW coal-fired power plant being promoted by the UK-based Hinduja group. Appalareddy Pitta (23), a native of Pittavanipalem works as a welder in the middle-east. A week after he came home on a holiday, he developed sores and blisters all over his body, attributed to Arsenic poisoning. Fishermen sort fresh catch at their hamlet in Meghavaram, Vadditandra. The best fish are kept aside for their own consumption and the rest are taken to the markets. A villager shows roots picked from the Beela (wetland). The roots are a major source of iron and nutrition to the villagers.Golagondi, Sompeta. Pelicans, Painted Storks and other migratory birds at Telineelapuram, a bird sanctuary about 2.5km from the plant site, Vadditandra. Though visited by 121 species of birds, it was mentioned as a minor breeding site for some birds in the Environment Assessment Report submitted by the promoters of the project for the purpose of permissions. A worker harvests paddy crop at Korlam, Sompeta. The wetland is a major source of water for irrigation in the region; three lift irrigation schemes that draw water from the wetland irrigate 750 acres. This is in addition to the hundreds of acres that are dependent on water drawn directly through small channels and borewells. A narrow water channel created after large tracts of land was reclaimed from the Kakarapalli swamp for the construction of the power plant at Vadditandra. The fishing community was severely affected after a chemical used to destroy the grass killed entire marine life in the swamp. Lakshmi Jerolu with her three-year-old son at Akasalakkavaram, Vadditandra. Her husband, Nageswara Rao Jerolu (35), was killed in police firing during the protests on the 28th of February, 2011. She now cooks midday meals for children at a local school. Migrant shepherds graze their sheep on the periphery of the swamp at Vadditandra. Santosh Behara with the two fish that he had caught on a three hour hunt in the Bay of Bengal near Baruva, Sompeta. The fishermen community, already seriously affected by existing industries along the coast, has been quite vocal in the protests against the power projects. Activists break fast on the 740th day of relay hunger strikes protesting the power project at Sompeta. The town receives a power cut for about three hours in the evening everyday. Locals and activists clash with police at the public hearing for a proposed ferro alloys plant at Addaroad near Visakhapatnam. The agitations at Sompeta and Vadditandra have served to increas awareness levels among communities about potential health and environmental impact from industries, causing widespread public agitations against polluting industries. High-tension power transmission lines built to carry power from the NTPC Simhadri power plant pass through agricultural fields near Parawada, Visakhapatnam.  
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- [Footer](https://sriharsha.in/?p=25350): Harsha Vadlamani is a photojournalist, documentary photographer, filmmaker, and National Geographic Explorer based in New Delhi and Hyderabad, India. He is a member of Panos Pictures and a recipient of Amnesty International UK’s Media Award for Photojournalism in 2022 for his photographs of the COVID-19 pandemic in rural India.
- [Header](https://sriharsha.in/?p=25066): Harsha Vadlamani Menu Projects Heavy Lies the Grain Battling the Wave Dialogues with the Dead Chalo Dilli Parched The Muria Isn’t Home For a Handful of Stardust NGO/Non-Profit
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