Mita (name changed) is here, there and everywhere, managing her shop alone in Salt Lake,  Kolkata as she juggles her spatula, pots, pans, paper plates, teacups, and  dish soap. In the midst of this apparent chaos, she does some deft mental arithmetic to calculate dues, and tells her customers, “The QR code is displayed there.” Mita is one among the wide cross section of the Indian population who have adopted United Payments Interface (UPI)—a real-time, cash-less and secure payment system. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) introduced UPI in 2016 to facilitate inter-bank transactions for peer-to-peer, or individual-to-merchant transactions.…

After centuries of life as nomads, the Banjara have had enough. They now want to settle down, live in proper houses, and send their children to school. And they want doctors, dentists, and technology specialists in the family, not just artisans, cobblers, or make-do handymen. Speak to the nomadic tribal families living on a rented plot of land near the Aravalli International School in Sector 81 of Greater Faridabad, and their aspirations for the future ring out clearly.  The Banjara, one of India’s largest ethnic groups —  with a population between 8.5 crore and 10 crore, and known across the…