Another year ends. Tomorrow we usher in 2020, a new decade and twenty years of Project Why! On this last day of the decade I feel somewhat nostalgic. The desire to travel back in time is overwhelming and I let myself embark on a trip down memory lane. Twenty years is a long time, a generation it is believed and by this yardstick Project Why has entered adulthood but it just seems it all began yesterday and that Manu would appear at the end of the road anytime. I cannot believe that 20 years have passed. I can still hear his cries and feel how they shook me out of the almost catatonic state I had sunk in after my parents deaths. I understand today that Manu gave me a second life, another chance to prove myself and be worthy of his gift.

That is how the journey began two decades ago with no road map, no instruction book, no guidelines but just the overwhelming desire to follow my heart and answer all the ‘whys’ that would come my way, the first being Manu. In my quest of ways to take care of Manu, I would be confronted with innumerable questions all begging for an answer.

Taking care of Manu meant having to sink roots in a world I barely knew existed, the one that lies on the other side of invisible lines drawn by the society we live in. It meant making that world mine. In spite of many hurdles it was easier than I thought as in the lanes of the slums of Delhi and behind the door of every home I found the India so lovingly portrayed to a child growing in faraway lands by her parents. And even if it was a far cry from everything I had known till then, the love and acceptance I received in abundance made up for everything. The rest is history.

From a small spoken English facility with barely 40 children we grew to become a family of 1200 in a couple of years with primary and secondary classes as well as a special needs class that was Manu’s class. Along the way we also began working with women and today over 400 women are skilled every year in our women’s centre. From the small lane where it all began we spread our wings to other parts of the city and today have centres in 5 locations. All this was made possible by an incredible team of 40  souls who are the cornerstone of the Project and steer it from challenge to challenge, from success to success.

We strived to answer every challenge, even those outside the box from sponsoring over 20 open heart surgeries to taking care of burn survivors. No one was ever turned away. Today our two little burn survivors and one of our open heart surgery child study in a boarding school, two of them Utpal and Babli will sit for their class XII Boards in 2020!

But that is one side of the coin.The other side is the incredible souls who reached out and made all this possible. Individuals from across the globe who believed in us and donated with compassion and generosity. Some of them even set up organisations* in their country to raise the funds we needed. Each an everyone of them is part of the Project Why family.

Twenty years ago I began this journey as an orphan. Today I have the largest family you can imagine. The love I have received is overwhelming. Be it the children of Project Why, the team, the volunteers, the supporters, each and everyone is my family and has a special place in my heart. I feel humbled and grateful beyond words.

We have come a long way and it has been a beautiful journey. I feel so incredibly blessed.

As we enter into a New Year, I pray that we are able to continue our work and fulfil all the dreams we hold in custody.

Happy New Year

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