CRUMBLING MOUNTAINS, MIGHTY WOMEN

Crumbling Mountains Mighty Women is a short documentary film that follows foraging Pahadi women from Joshimath, a holy town located high up in the Himalayas. Joshimath has been gradually sinking over the years due to its location in a seismically active zone. However, extractive and unchecked human activities in the last couple of decades has accelerated the sinking.

Usha, Manju, and Leela are close friends and neighbours who have picked up foraging for medicinal herbs in the forests and ‘Bugyals’ (Alpine meadows) around Joshimath since January of 2023, ever since the sinking of the town made it to mainstream news across the nation, affecting the economy of this tourist dependent town.

The documentary is a window into the world as experienced by these women, as their world quite literally unravels beneath their feet.

Graduating Project 2023, IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay