This paper offers a detailed analysis of income mobility in rural India during 1968-1969 to 1970-1971. It focuses on 1) the pattern of upward income mobility among a section of the cultivating poor and 2) some of the key factors that enabled them to overcome poverty. The analysis is based on a panel survey of 4118 rural households from the Additional Rural Income Survey. The author assumes that 16 rupees per person per month at 1960-1961 prices constitutes an upper limit for a minimum daily calorie requirement in rural areas. The analysis shows that out of those poor in 1968 over 1/2 ceased to be poor over 12% became poorer and about 36% remained poor without becoming poorer in 1970. Out of the not-poor in 1968 over 3/4 remained not-poor while the remaining became poor in 1970. With the exception of the cultivating not-poor who remained not-poor all other categories reported substantial income changes in their average incomes during the period in question. While the absolutely impoverished earned much lower incomes there were others--particularly the poor ceased to be poor--who registered impressive income gains. Comparison of the base year income levels of the 3 subsets of the cultivating poor suggested that on average the poorest of the poor fared better than the moderately poor. This conclusion was further supported by an analysis of income mobility within a subset comprising the cultivating poor who ceased to be poor. The bulk of these were relatively low income households that earned substantially higher incomes.