Rooted in immersion and lived experience, the Local Narratives Fellowship 202 invites participants to engage deeply with rural communities through learning, collaboration, and storytelling. Set in Parengtar in the Eastern Himalayas, the programme coincides with a seasonal paddy planting festival, allowing participants to actively take part in community life rather than observe it from a distance. By prioritising reciprocity, ethical engagement, and long-term understanding, the fellowship challenges the extractive nature of conventional rural tourism and redefines what it means to truly experience culture.
In India where the disparity and difference between rural and urban life is so stark, travel is increasingly packaged into aesthetic experiences without attempting to truly immerse oneself in a place. The rise of luxury stays in rural India, designed to offer a softened, palatable version of “village life” to the urban elite, has created a distance between the traveller and the reality they claim to experience.
Within this context that 'Gyan (ज्ञान) – Local Narratives Fellowship 2026' positions itself as rooted in the idea of knowledge as something lived rather than observed. Indeed, the fellowship invites participants to step into rural India not as learners but as participants in realities of their new environment. Through a three-month hybrid structure combining online sessions and field immersion, it encourages a deeper engagement with the community and cultural impact of their actions.
This year’s Parengtar edition, set to take place in a village in the Eastern Himalayas from the 26th to the 30th of June, takes this ethos even further. Timed to coincide with a seasonal Nepali festival marking the beginning of the paddy planting season, the fellowship gives participants a chance to experience a lifestyle deeply tied to land and labour. Participants step into the fields, plant alongside farmers, and become part of a collective moment where work and celebration merge.
Unlike glamping experiences or boutique rural retreats that often aestheticise this landscape, the Local Narratives Fellowship does not attempt to sanitise or stage rural life. It leans into its complexities with participants living with or near host families and engaging directly with community leaders. With special prices for students and past participants, the fellowship focuses on learning and creating a two-way relationship between the participants and the community in Parengtar.
The structure of the fellowship reflects this intention. Pre-immersion sessions prepare participants to approach the experience with context and sensitivity, while the time in the village is centred around community mapping, storytelling, and collaborative impact projects. Whether it is documenting local crafts, understanding ecological systems, or co-designing ideas with rural youth, the emphasis remains on reciprocity.
Rural communities are often represented through an external gaze, one that romanticises, or, at times, flattens their realities. By encouraging participants to engage thoughtfully, the fellowship attempts to shift this dynamic, making space for narratives that are more nuanced.
The Local Narratives Fellowship stands as an example; underlining that culture cannot be meaningfully experienced at a distance. Without embracing the unpredictability of lived experience and immersing yourself in it, even when it is not convenient, an experience cannot truly be called transformative or authentic.
The application for the Parengtar Fellowship closes on the 10th of May. Register here.
Here's more from Homegrown:
The Public Place Is A Community Space Where Mumbai Comes Together To Unlearn & Relearn
All Eyes On Manipur: We Need To Talk About What’s Happening In India’s North-Eastern Frontier
The Public Place Is A Community Space Where Mumbai Comes Together To Unlearn & Relearn