by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 4, 2005 | Uncategorized
this week we made it to outlook and for once the article conveyed the reality of project why and its hopes and dreams. For once readers are spared the ‘ambassador’s daughter’ walking the slums, a cliche that makes me mad and has been used ad nauseum…
project why came of age in what i think is still the best article even written on why project WHY came to be. This article appeared in September 2003, and since we have gone a long way. At that time we were still groping in the dark, needing some kind of recognition that would make us visible and hence help us grow… but then everyone picked the words from the goodnewsindia.com article and somehow rewrote it, giving the impression that nothing was
truly happening..
yet the essence of project why is its ability to change and mutate, as its aim from the very first day was to empower people to take charge of their own lives…
project why was never about the poor little rich girl hoping to become a saint!
project why has always been about making a difference and one again we find ourselves at crossroads and know that will have to take on a new role… and I hope that when we do and succeed there will be someone who will report it honestly!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 1, 2005 | Uncategorized
guess whose coming to tea…
project why’s very special page ‘3’ ladies… seema, sarita, geeta, urmila, vinita , savitri…
never mind if they live in shanties, or jhuggis, they were invited to a farewell tea by friend and colleague Mylene, with whom they have worked for the past four years…
they would have done any one proud as they turned up at the exact time, dressed in lovely colours and all excited to be in their friend’s house…
as they sat with great poise and dignity no one would have believed that one was a dalit , the other a gypsy and the other a barber’s wife!
They ate blueberry cheesecake and drank their tea, and were delighted to visit Mylene’s home, without a twinge of envy as they looked at the kitchen, far bigger than the home of many of them..
And when it was time to leave, there were many moist eyes, and silent tears… and promised to meet again…
I watched with pride at the small miracles that project why seemed to throw my way… with obsessive regularity…
It takes so little to change people.. a little faith.. a little trust and lots of love…
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 1, 2005 | utpal
i had a most moving experience as i watched a scene enacted by two
beings as different as night and day..
one is a little 3 year old indian slum kid and the other a 50 year old
upmarket frenchman ..
but they are tied by an invisible thread called love.
so when xavier came by utpal decided to take him to his house.. he
went to fetch the keys from his mom and guided his motley troop of
xavier anu..ma’am, and tuntun (the scooter driver) to his house.. he opened the first door
then the second and led us into his one room home with the confidence of an adult and the grace of the best host you could think of..
he switched the fan on, requested xavier to take his shoes off and sit on the bed.. then he sat himself , after havingtaken off his sandals..
anu with the impatience and foolishness that only an adult is capable off said something silly like “come on they are waiting for lunch”..
utpal looked around and saw that there were two pots on the slab that is the kitchen and said “you will eat here, there is fish and rice”..
the pots however only had water in them, he looked a little perplexed, but then got off the bed and filled a glass with the water and offered it to xavier, who drank it not giving anyone the chance to comment on its origin or cleanliness!
i watched with tears welling up my eyes and a tightness in my throat what to me was sudama feeding krishna …
and i saw the look of love on the two faces as they looked at each other in total silence before big krishna swept tiny sudama into his arms,turning his face away so that we would not see the unshed tear…
