Angels do not have wings. They look just like you and me.
This post is a little personal. I beg your indulgence.
Over the past 25 years of my Project Why journey I have faced many challenges, witnessed many miracles and realised that there are many good people in this world. Over these years we created a wonderful network of people from all over the world who became part of the Project Why family. I was blessed with an amazing team that stood by me and believed in my dreams.I also realised that there there was someone watching from the heavens above who I fondly called the God of Lesser Beings. He conjured miracles every time we were in need or distress. However for over two decades we lived from hand to. mouth. Today I understand that it was His way of testing me !
I knew we had a sound model the proof being the umpteen success stories that came our way and filled our hearts with immense pride but our funding model was fragile and depended on me. I was no spring chicken and every year that went by brought its share of grey hairs and worry lines. On this journey I was alone and rapidly ageing. My dream was to see project why live beyond me and though I held on to it tight I was unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
There were many sleepless nights and in the dead of those nights I knew that were I not able to ensure sustained and long term funding I would rather close Project Why when it was still thriving than have it die a slow and painful death after my demise.
The darkest hour precedes dawn and mine came in 2020 not only because of the pandemic that hit the world and turned it on its head but also because I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The end that was till then hypothetical became a stark reality but I knew I would soldier on till my last breath.
That is when the God of Lesser Beings decided that I had passed his test and decided to intervene. A series of events would shape the future. A desperate plea at a Board meeting; an email, a visit and the rest is history.
In today’s world heroes do not wear capes, and Angels do not have wings. They look just like you and me but with one difference : they are answers to your prayers and messengers of God!
Mine were Adish and Asha Jain and their beautiful family. The very first time Adish And Asha Jain visited our Okhla centre in March 2022 they decided to. adopt us not for a year or two as most funders do but for as long as we would exist. When God sends its Angels it is with a divine plan. They did not just sign a cheque with multiple zeroes. That is easy. They took it upon them to transform what I call my mom and pop shop and make it XXIst century savvy as only then would we be able to accede to long term funding. They asked one simple question; was I willing to accept change even though it may be painful as it would entail stepping out of our comfort zone. My answer was a loud an unequivocal YES!
The journey of transformation began and yes it was not easy. But change we did one step at a time from becoming a sound administrative structure, to changing our teaching approach and incorporating the skills needed to succeed in the XXIst century: English. computer skills, digital learning and so on. We did all as best we could.
March 5th 2026 will remain the most important day of my journey as Adish and Asha Jain brought their entire family to visit our Project. Before I go further I would like to say that in my 74 years of existence I have never met such a beautiful family. We were honoured to have Samir, Shailavi and their beautiful children Kavya and Milan, and Sapna and Bhupesh. Each one a testimony that good and kind people do exist in this sometimes incomprehensible world. I somehow felt that I had always known them: they were family.
My deepest gratitude to each one of them and to the Lord who heard my desperate plea. You will always be in my heart.
I have often been asked to define the essence and spirit of Project Why and I always quote a line from St Exupery’s Little Prince:”It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”. The Jain family sees with their heart.
You may ask how have they impacted Project Why. The answer is simple: they gave a nearly dying organisation wings to grow and soar into the future.