As part of the oral history work and engagement with local communities in the rural periphery of Delhi of Ambedkar University Delhi's Centre for Community Knowledge (CCK), this illustrated book for young people titled Ghummanhera: Our Beautiful Village - Stories from Delhi's Rural Belt is a story of Ghummanhera village as told by eleven-year old Ananya who visits her grandparents there. Villages like Ghummanhera are undergoing rapid change alongside growing connections with the metropolis. They are largely seen as reservoirs of resources for the city's multiple economic processes or where the city's detritus finds its way. Others see them as exotic locations that showcase an 'authentic' culture from a rural past.

CCK's work in the region, on the other hand, gives space to other renderings of the rural belt as sites of aspiration, agency, and conversation. After months of research, CCK organised an in-situ neighbourhood museum/workshop in the summer of 2022, where further discussions took place with Ghummanhera residents. This book, produced on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of IIAS, is dedicated to the people of Ghummanhera. 

Download the full digital copy of this storybook here.