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.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 31, 2009 | Uncategorized
It is the last day of the year and the decade. Time to take a moment and look back at time gone by as we at pwhy step into our 10th year. Time to allow ourselves a moment to celebrate the achievements and successes of the years gone by and I must admit there is heaps to be joyful about: the little school bags that year after year got filled with new books as children passed to the higher classes, the bright eyed youngsters who held out their Board results with pride, the tiny boarding school stars who topped their respective classes beating every odd in life, the little once broken hearts that now beat with confidence ready to take on life, the very special young adults who have a home to call their own and do not need to wander the streets or live in fear of abuse.
But that is not all as none of this would not have been possible without so many wonderful souls who never gave up seeing with their hearts and made all of it possible. As I look back on the decade gone by I am filled with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that no words can express, but then for those who see with their hearts are words necessary?
by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
An acquaintance dropped by yesterday. He is one of those strange persons who seem to be donning a new hat each time you meet. Last time we met he was involved in defending water rights worldwide and this time he handed me a card with the acronym MDG engraved on it. MDG, I was soon to discover were the lofty Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and our friend was meant to work on seeing how to involve big businesses, again worldwide, in the game or how to make CSR programmes relevant. Why did I catch myself smiling. I guess because once again I was faced with the bizmess of giving! My mind went back to one of my earlier posts written almost half a decade ago.
Anyway I enjoy teasing this person about his new avatars and we began a gentle banter about his new role. I asked him what the famed goals were and how he planned to involve the so called big businesses in this. We never got further than Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education. Somehow the playful mood that we had begun with turned serious and grave. We were now treading grounds I knew and had strong opinions about. This was no matter to kid about. I asked him how he envisaged involving large business houses and what if anything had he done in India? It seemed not much.
I was surprised at how militant I became. I guess I had found an interlocutor to share my extreme views on the matter with. I launched into a long diatribe about universal primary education. Education for all could only happen if state run schools became centres of excellence and the obvious choice for all – my dream of a common school. And maybe it was time that we in India ended the charade of having 33% as a pass percentage for school examinations as 33% got you nowhere. It was time to end the caste rid society of schools and come up with a school every child could attend.
Education for All targets the poorer strata of society and yet when we look around we realise that it is the poor children who have been let down again and again. In spite of constitutional guarantees, children from weaker sections are not given the enabling environment they need to grow and take their place in the sun. And what is infuriating is that they need so little. We have proved that in our ten years of existence as with very little help our children have sailed through school. And our little boarding schools stars quietly slipped into the top position of their respective classes without much ado. Imagine if all our kids could be given the right environment!
Universal Primary Education can and will only make sense if the adjective quality is added to the goal. If not then it will remain a charade played to satisfy questionable agendas or meet statistical compulsions.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 28, 2009 | God of lesser beings
I had to share this and the pictures below with all of you. They were taken last week on the day when our little boarding school stars were ready to come home for their winter break. It is heartwarming and touching to see the joy and happiness written all over their little faces.
All theses little kids would have been living in despair had not the God of lesser beings decided to intervene. Thank heavens he did.
