JUGNI FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME
“Jugni” in Gurmukhi (ਜਗਨੀ), a Punjabi word, means the “female firefly.” A firefly can be found in a group (one of many), or fly singly, on its own. The insect is small and quite ordinary, but glows with an inner light, while lighting up spaces around it. It can dissipate the darkness of the night with its sparkle. This is what makes it extraordinary.
In Punjab, Jugni is often seen as the “spirit of life” in spiritual poetry and is also sometimes portrayed as the “fire spirit.” It is the space from where the writer/thinker/singer shares their observations. Jugni follows their own path, leaving behind the whiff of a fragrance, the wisp of a memory.
A fellow (jugni or jugnu) would be from India, trying to throw some light on the discrimination around them. They would help dissipate the darkness with the glow of their inner selves. An independent fire-spirit does not have to do something to prove themselves. The light they shed helps change the world in ways that may be small, but impactful. The world itself would be a darker place without the presence of the jugni.
AF believes that language, writing and articulation skills, networks, funds, and other resources, cannot be barriers to following one’s dreams.
FROM INDIVIDUAL IDEAS TO PLANS
The Jugni Fellowship Programme offers non-academic fellowships where individuals can take up innovative ideas, within the framework of small or medium budgets. Through the Jugni programme, AF hopes to create a larger network of individual fellows committed to upholding democratic values and constitutional rights, who would help strengthen socio-cultural and political systems.
Jugnis and jugnus could be community resource persons, social workers, musicians, and cultural activists, lawyers, journalists, from historically marginalised and under-represented communities, located in challenging geographical areas.
PILOTING A COHORT
The pilot cohort under the Jugni Fellowship programme started in October 2023 with 11 fellows articulating their dream projects. 10 fellows completed the pilot phase of the programme. The cohort consists of film makers, grassroots workers, those working with young people and a social entrepreneur. They have developed and continue to work on making short videos, a full-length film; curriculum for children from very marginalised communities; setting up sangathans; and deepening understanding with young people on Constitutional rights and about mental health.
As we move towards Cohort 1
in 2025, we take hope and
courage from the diversity of
the pilot cohort jugnis and
jugnus and the dreams they
dare to aspire for
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