A ‘Grassroot Conclave’ was organized by one of TCI’s founding members, Bapu Trust for Research on Mind & Discourse from April 6-8, 2023 in Pune, India. It was a gathering of the grassroot cadres of their partner organizations who had been trained to ‘program for inclusion’ and had been practicing inclusion in their communities. The traditional songs and dances, adapted to the theme of Inclusion, were powerful immersive experiences for all participants, from different cultures, celebrating land, forest, identity, connection, community and resilience; and sharing the deeply felt impact of violence, destruction and appropriation as indigenous areas change to modern slums and cities, especially on children, elderly, women and poor households.

This photo story tries to capture and present an inventory of inclusion practices from various regions of India. It aims to present a community of practice around inclusion and demonstrate how and in what ways can communities be transformed for inclusion. Through this photo story, we are only focusing on community support systems and not on community support services.