by Anuradha Bakshi | May 14, 2005 | Uncategorized
The doctors have given their verdict
Utpal does not have the dreaded B virus but just a severe bout of hepatitis A
Utpal will have time to conquer more hearts and to share his laughter with many
I can only say that this happened because of all those who petitioned Gods of all colours and hues, even those who do not believe, but who decided to do so just this once…
And even the most forbidding deity had no choice but to make an exception and oblige…
Our little man just smiled when I held him…
And I saw what looked like a snake scurrying away into its hole
by Anuradha Bakshi | May 12, 2005 | Uncategorized
St Exupery’s beautiful fable has never ceased to fascinate me.
I got my first copy of the little prince as a young teenager in Algiers, a city so close to the sahara desert where he made his landfall. I would have never guessed that this beautiful tale would weave itself into the very fabric of my life…
It has provided me anwers where all else failed, given me direction when all seemed dark…
When I first heard Utpal laugh, months after his terrible ordeal with fire I heard myself murmur:
“little man, I want to hear you laugh again..”
At that moment I had not understood how deep that intuitive comparaison would turn out to be…
Many of you know that as I write these words, we wait for the verdict of the men in white, the words that will reveal the coordinates of his tryst with the snake..
As I wait, many of the questions that I asked myself over the years spent discovering the unfathomable mysteries of this tiny fable suddenly assume a new clarity:
Did the little prince appear to elucidate the true meaning of love, friendship, and other human feelings, or simply to tell the aviator that he would find the well and hence live!
Or was the little prince urging the aviator to start looking with his heart as he would not live long (st exupery passed away one year after writing the little prince)
Does the true meaning of the gift of the fox stop at explaining love as we see it, or does it ask us to take that extra step and understand that love has to be selfless to the point of letting go of the other, even it it means accepting the coming of the snake…
Many times, I have seen a seriousness bordering mysticism in little utpal. His reactions to ordinary occurences often have a profound meaning. He has provided answers to puzzling dilemnas. His ability to walk into people’s heart in no time is almost frightening, making one worry why he is in such a hurry…
What is Utpal trying to tell me.. that sometimes one has to take decisions that are not the obvious ones. That we humans cannot play god and that the inevitable has to happen. That sometimes people meet for a short time but one that is rich in rewards for both…
and the ultimate lesson that love means to accept the snake at the appropriate time as maybe that is the best one…
I urge all of you that have met him and those that have come to know him through my words to help me take the steps that the little prince expects me to…
so help me god!
i urge those of you who have not read the little prince to do so. but beware just like utpal, he walks into your heart!
by Anuradha Bakshi | May 10, 2005 | Uncategorized
look at this smile…
it belongs to a lovely lady I have never met in person, but who has walked into my heart across the screen of my computer.
sarmishtha is a software engineer and hold on a film maker!
she came to know about project why and decided to help… and it was not a simple cheque in the mail box or a click on the paypal button of our website, no sir!.. she decided to support our work by contributing a generous percentage of the net revenues of her maiden venture: french fries and curry ..
i sit and wonder what makes people like this young graduate of Berkeley University click! what miracle of creation ensured that her heart was in the right place and not lost in alien land..
i do not have the answer..
i have walked this planet for over half a century, and one thing is certain: whenever i seemed to be an inch of losing faith in humanity, a miracle always happened to steer me back on course.. that is how i have been able to carry on…
with the help of smiles like the one you see, and maybe an ocasional plate of french fries…
by Anuradha Bakshi | May 7, 2005 | Uncategorized
ninety three
two simple digits, but ones that should have tranformed the lives of the children of India:
I am referring to the ninety third amendment to the constitution of India..
It took half a century for the children of Independant India to get the right to free education. It should be a cause of celebration… but then all is not well on planet India…
A few weeks back a senior government official asked me whether I would like to ‘take over’ the local municipal school. At first I thought it was a joke.. but soon realised the person was serious…
I was in the presence of the so called privatisation of education, that one had been hearing of for some time.
My blood ran cold…
The state was simply abdicating its duty towards education and handing it over to whoever would want it… and i why should anyone want it if not for commercial reasons.. we were not talking philantrophy here…
Yes it is the fashion of the day to hand over what one is not able to run, be it a natural resource like water to the running of complex organisations like power, to mundane ones like garbage collection… but has anyone stopped to think what this would mean…
Handing over municipal schools to commercial interests simply means denying millions of children their constitutional right to education… yes i am sure some palliative will be found, some form of literacy or the other for which someone will find a befitting and conscious easing name… and society wil be further divided..
An easy way to solve problems.. maybe next time we cannot handle our own children let us give them to the highest bidder!
by Anuradha Bakshi | May 2, 2005 | Uncategorized
citizen one
was the award that a daily paper decided to select me for..
moment of great joy for the younger gang of project why who are still, thank god, simple hearted and honest and thus view life that away, a gang ably led by shamika..
moment of bewilderment and some satisfaction i must confess as i am but human…
and then on 29th April a ceremony with to add glamour and glitterati, a bollywood actor..
to many this would seem to be ‘my big moment’ .. messages drop by the mail box, for many it seemed one had ‘got there‘..
but i ask myself ‘got where‘ as the reality stares at me, a reality that becomes scarry…
let me first share what i wrote to the Today Editor on the very next morning
“…
it was wonderful meeting you yesterday
and i would like to thank you for having given me this unique moment
i feel humbled
i hope that this recognition will help in getting the children of
delhi access to meaningful education and this can only be possible if
the people of delhi come forward and help sustain such initiatives
we feel that true development can only take place in a democratic way
when we realise that each one of us have a role to play
we have a small initiative called just one rupee a day which we feel
is very doable
our work necessitates about 4000 one-rupee-day donors … not 4000 rs
a day but 4000 one rupee donors, therein lies the difference between
‘charity’ and commitment
i did mention it to vivek oberoi ( who said he might help). mr arun
purie wondered how we could collect the same. well we can as we have
evolved mechanisms we feel would work…
to me it is not a matter of simply getting pwhy to continue, it is
more an approach to community development and empowerment
and Today is the right instrument for this approach
in a country like India no matter how many individuals there are,
numbers will never be reached unless we evolve a model that is steered
and maintained by the very community one wants to reach
the award i received yesterday was great positive stroking (i am but
human) but to me its true vindication is when and if it brings about a
real change in mindsets. our city, which lies too close to power for
its own good, has lost its heart, maybe we can help it find it
again…”
any award that carries a name like citizen one is definitely weighty (just like the statue given). one cannot just walk away and do nothing. such recognition does compel you to do something larger and more meaningful… and that becomes even more difficult when most of those who write in, feel that somehow that one event has solved all your problems..
i will have to stay clear of pits in which i may fall, of easy way outs that will take away from project why the very spirit that allowed it to reach where it has.. and walk the planet one day at a timei feel more alone than i ever was, longing for the comfort of being just one tiny project reaching out to a handful of children, and above all i know that not matter how many kuddos land my way, i have to keep myself together and remember that it is only by remaining humble that i can achieve something meaningful…
it is now that i need the support and goodwill of all those who have walked with me this far..
there are many ways opened to project why, and one will have to chose the right one…
so help me god!
