he who plants a tree…

he who plants a tree…

by | Aug 2, 2005 | Uncategorized

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he who plants a tree, plants a hope
said Lucy Larcom (1824 – 1893)..never were words written as true as in the case of Preeti and our new aloe vera project…
Stop a moment to look at Preeti’s smile before your read on…

Preeti is 19 though she looks 12.. she suffers from a mental retardation that no one ever bothered to assess and by the time she came to us it was far too late to do anything concrete..
Preeti is not a pretty child and in her home no one loves her. Her grandmother has even told us to ‘give her a rat poison’ on more than one occasions and not as a joke. If her family could wish her away, they would…

Pretty has never been fed and has a severe micro nutrient deficiency which translates in her eating flies and insects.. which makes her the butt of nasty and snide remarks..

But Preeti is an endearing child if you are willing to stop and look at her with love. In spite of her very limited abilities she loves to help in any chore she can and one of her favourite activity is gardening.

When our friend DV suggested that we start an aloe vera project we had no hesitation is giving it to our special section under the stewartship of their educator Virinder.

The children are now busy planting aloe vera saplings into tiny pots, preparing charts and other material explaining the vertues of aloe vera and the advantage of having a plant in every home. They have collected empty containers of aloe vera based products and highlighted the exhorbitant cost of each of them and are now preparing a little presentation for our annual day that will be held on August 13th. They will on that day launch the sale of their saplings at rs 10/- a pot and who knows our littel aloevera fairies may turn into business ladies!

And maybe, just maybe, Preeti would gain a little place in the heart of her family when she comes back with first earnings…

so as Lucy larcom said

He who plants a tree –
Plants hope. . .
He who plants a tree –
Plants joy. . .
He who plants a tree –
Plants youth. . .
He who plants a tree –
Plants love. . .
Gifts that grow are best

when r met n

when r met n

by | Aug 2, 2005 | Uncategorized

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it was a special day at project why…

we had a special guest, one that has been a friend even before he saw our world or met any one of us.

rabin came all the way from chennai and spent the whole day with us.

his smile won eveyone over and the magic of project why worked once again as rabin became part of everything that was happening as if he were one of us.
he watched the reherseals for the forthcoming annual day, met all those he had touched with his cyberLove, neha and little aditya, met the angry and misguided young teenagers of okhla, and the odd couple who are parents to little yash.

the day went by, a normal one for project why but i guess a special one for rabin as he got a live show of what till then had been a reality perceived through words and snapshots, and a far cry from the cool air conditioned and organised world of a state-of-the-art bank!

a very special moment was when rabin met nutan. i cannot even begin to imagine the multitude of feelings and emotions that filled that instant..

if one had looked with one’s heart, what filled that tiny room was hope..

will the world look the same to you rabin!