It was the perseverance of NGO activists that eventually catapulted a group of poor tribal women who lived by begging to be the proud owners of buffaloes and goats. They later visited Tugaon, 133 km south of Bidar town, and briefed the beggar women the concept of self-help groups (SHG) and the importance of savings and credit habit. Emaciated by starvation, the women, with children in tow, used to beg in Chalkapur village where they encountered the NGO activists. From beggary, rural women...

By NATALIE ANGIER Published: April 17, 2007 Show somebody a painting of a verdant, botanically explicit forest with three elk grazing in the middle and ask what the picture is about, and the average viewer will answer, Three elk grazing. As an unusually cool, sodden April edges toward May and spring s cheeky blooms can be bridled no longer, botanists urge everyone to venture outside and check out the world through nature s rose-colored glasses and the daffodil, cherry blossom, dogwood and...

I became a mom a year and a half ago, and while hanging in and around coffee shops and playgrounds I have caught myself wondering when skinny jeans for babies became so hot. Parents often approach us at the baby swings on the playground to tell us what a big boy we have and assure my husband and me that he'll slim down once he starts walking. Smith's attempt to keep her baby from plumping up puts her in the company of many of the middle-class mothers who live in my neighborhood. I have...