Eklavya Foundation is a non–profit, non-governmental organization instituted in 1982, with an active publication programme established in 1996. Their literature for children spans fiction, non-fiction and diverse formats such as picture books, chapter books, big books, brown books, accordion books and most recently board books and animated board books. They have more than 500 titles in their backlists and now actively add on an average of 45 titles per year. The majority of their publications are in Hindi, while English books comprise 25% of their catalogue. They also publish books in other Indian languages as collaborative projects and also publish books by children.
As a part of the outreach activities of their publication programme, Eklavya works with communities to establish libraries and reading centers for children and young adults. They host and organize regular workshops within their space and produce a monthly magazine.
The resident should be willing to explore and interact with the diverse cultures of Madhya Pradesh, a state comprising multiple indigenous communities and a very rich heritage, both tangible and intangible.
Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh is known for its lakes, gently undulating topography and interesting mix of historic and modern built heritage. It is situated close to the World Heritage sites of Sanchi and Bhimbetka and close enough for weekend getaways to wildlife reserves. Bhopal is also home to several great museums such as the Tribes Museum, the Bharat Bhavan or the Indira Gandhi National Museum of Man.
The Eklavya Foundation is located on the outskirts of Bhopal in a contemporary building designed by the famous architect Chitra Viswanath of Biome Environmental Solutions, Bengaluru. It comprises a bookstore on the ground floor, administrative quarters on the first floor, and housing and workshop facilities on the second floor. Balconies with home-grown vegetables are running on both sides of the building whose facade and walls are in raw cement, in order to keep the interiors cool. The Eklavya Foundation team comprises about 30 people working full time, in addition to which regular visitors are coming to participate and host workshops and seminars. Commuting into the city is possible using bike/car taxis and the resident will be assisted in getting independent for booking the same.