by Anuradha Bakshi | Jan 7, 2010 | God of lesser beings
Heera is a young girl from Bihar. She comes from a very poor family. For the past two years Heera has been very sick and parents have been running form pillar to post to get her cured. To do that they spent every penny they had and even sold the little land they possessed. But Heera did not get better. Finally someone suggested they bring her to Delhi. They did and last week Heera was diagnosed with a hole in her heart. She needed corrective surgery and it came at a whopping price: 70 000 Rs. The parents were shattered and did not know what to do. That is when the God of lesser beings decided to intervene and told them about project why.
Heera came to see us with her parents. I was taken in by this quiet girl who stood there silently as her very life was being discussed. She did not say a work but just looked on. I learnt that she was studying in class 10. This was indeed remarkable as in Bihar, where she comes from, young village girls seldom go to school. That her parents had given her a good education in spite of their being poor showed how much they cared for her. There was no gender inequality in this brave family, a lesson for many! We had to help Heera.
Our heartfix hotel that had somehow taken a back seat for quite some time had a new guest. W swung into action and as I write these words help is on the way. Heera will soon be operated upon and will live. Not many can give the gift of life, we must be truly blessed.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jan 4, 2010 | Uncategorized
The year end festivities are over and today we begin the first week of the new year and the new decade of project why. Overwhelming is it not? But also exhilarating and exciting. The first thing that comes to mind at the dawn of a new year and more so a new decade is new resolutions. I pondered a long while on what our new year resolution should be?
After much thought I decided that from this day onwards the one thing we would do is celebrate every good moment, no matter how small or seemingly innocuous. I realised sadly and sheepishly that one often tends to maximise the few bad moments, the small obstacles, the tiny impediments, the minor hitches and forgets all about the good things, the wonderful achievements, the superb feats and the miracles big and small that have come our way.
That project why has been in existence for a decade is wondrous. That it has withstood the test of time is nothing short of a miracle. Is that not worth celebrating! All else pales in front of this simple accomplishment and yet we forget to acknowledge let alone honour it. Is it not remarkable that in spite of all odds we have never faltered in the past 10 years, never given up on any challenge no matter how impossible it may have seemed and always come out winners. It is sad that far too often such achievements are just brushed under the carpet or taken for granted. From today onwards we will take time each day to highlight the good moments no matter how trivial they may seem.
A new year and more so a new decade is also time to introspect and make necessary course corrections. 2010 should herald the decade when we make a slow transition from quantity to quality. Till date our main objective has been to arrest drop our rates and ensure children complete their schooling and we have been successful in doing so. We now intend to slowly mutate and try and give our children an enabling environment and the skills needed succeed in today’ world. We aspire to give Education for All a whole new meaning!
This where we stand at the dawn of this new decade.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jan 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
An unexpected occurrence enabled me to pay off all the pending loans for the planet why land. Call it a miracle if you wish. I call it a father’s gift. I sat a long time, after having written the repayment cheques and let my mind travel back to the time when I use to sit next to my father and listen to his wise words. I must confess that at that time I never truly realised their sagacity and often brushed them aside with impatience. One of the things he oft repeated was that nothing happened without a reason as not a leave moved without Divine will. You will agree that when you hear such words in your adolescent years or as you enter womanhood, you are quick to discard such thoughts as you believe you can conquer the world and more! But as I grew up and as life slowly enfolded, these words became a leitmotiv. Hindsight is always wiser, is it not?
In the past years I have more than once realised the futility of banging against closed doors and understood the wisdom of simply waiting for things to happen. Nevertheless when a few weeks back the kind person who had given us a loan to purchase our land called to say he was in desperate need and wanted his money back I really did not know how I would ever be able to repay the loan. I must also admit that in those moments Papa’s wise words never came to mind. Yet a few days later a letter from an uncle informed me of the imminent sale of an old property I had forgotten about or rather given up on. The proceeds of the sale would be ample enough to repay back all incurred loans. It was a miracle or as I realised later a father’s gift. Had the sale occurred earlier the money would have been spent and I would never have been able to get out of my predicament.
Yesterday all loans were paid back and today we proudly own the land for planet why. I can only whisper: Thank you Papa.
Heera is a young girl from Bihar. She comes from a very poor family. For the past two years Heera has been very sick and parents have been running form pillar to post to get her cured. To do that they spent every penny they had and even sold the little land they possessed. But Heera did not get better. Finally someone suggested they bring her to Delhi. They did and last week Heera was diagnosed with a hole in her heart. She needed corrective surgery and it came at a whopping price: 70 000 Rs. The parents were shattered and did not know what to do. That is when the God of lesser beings decided to intervene and told them about project why.
