Five things Project Why has taught me

by anouradha bakshi | Feb 2, 2026 | Anou's Blog, Uncategorized

When I decided to set up a not-for-profit in the memory of my parents and to pay a debt I felt I owed my country as I had lived an extremely privileged life, I had already worn several hats and interacted with people from diverse origins and status. Having been a professor, an interpreter, a social secretary amongst other things I had rubbed shoulders with a wide variety of souls and thought I was well versed in human nature! I could not have imagined how wrong I was and how taking one tiny step across an invisible line would change things forever.

Today, with over two decades of Project Why under my skin, I feel I am competent to look back at the lessons that came my way after my fifth decade, a time when one believes one has seen and learnt all. I wonder what is it that makes you change the way you look at things and once again I find myself thinking of St Exupery and his Little Prince. Maybe my life too has been a voyage across planets each more bewildering than the other, and Project Why was the one where the maxim of the Fox was truly validated. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. The moment I decided to seed Project Why, I could only see with my heart!

A dear friend suggested I write about the 5 things that Project Why taught me about people. This is something I had never thought of so it is a journey of self discovery I share with you.

The first ‘people’ that comes to mind when I think about Project Why is undoubtedly Manu. I have said it many things but repeat it again: if not for Manu there may have not been Project Why. The lesson he taught me was to never say die, but more than, that that no life, no matter how wretched it may seem, is without purpose. Every life has a meaning and needs to be respected and celebrated. Manu’s was to see I set up Project Why. To most Manu would simply be an annoying mentally and physically challenged beggar, but to me he was my inspiration, my mirror and the one who showed me the way. He taught me to respect every human being that came my way.

The next thing that Project Why taught me about people was that if you ever reached out to help someone in need, there was no going back. It was a one way street. No one taught me this lesson more than my darling Utpal. When I reached out to save him from his third degree burns and allowed him to walk into my heart, I never knew it was a till death do us part deal. I had thought that I could heal his wounds and help his family look after him, maybe pay his school fees and be present when needed. That was not to be. Utpal became my foster child and today he is part of my life forever. This is also a lesson I follow for Project Why. No matter how difficult things look and are, there is no going back. My inner most desire is to see Project Why live beyond me.

Th next thing Project Why taught me about people is that if you truly trust and believe in someone, they live up to your trust more that 100%! This was proved to me in ample measure by the wonderful team I picked up from the community. Everyone warned me that it would be an impossible task but I instinctively knew that I was making the right decision. And though none of them had the degrees and diplomas, the profile and experience each one has done me proud and never made me regret my decision. I simply had to make them believe that I trusted them and the rest was history.

The next thing Project Why taught me about people is that there is more good than bad in this world, that values like compassion and generosity exist in ample measure in most people and simply need to be ferreted out. The way to do it is to be brutally honest and candid. One of the most beautiful things Project Why created is a wonderful network of souls from the world over and of all ages who have reached out to help and support Project Why. All I had to do was to tell my story from the heart and me the only child, the orphan got the most incredibly beautiful and supportive family and was smothered in so much love that it will take me many lives to pay back. I feel so blessed.

And last but maybe not the least Project Why taught me things I never knew existed about another ‘people’ and that is me. The reclusive almost hermit like person I had become after losing my parents, the person who ran away from numbers and could not even balance her home budget, the person who could never ask for the money that was owed to her become almost extrovert and even gregarious and began asking for help unabashedly for the children she had decided to make hers. I found within me qualities I never knew I possessed. Project Why became a true discovery of myself!

Next time, don’t look away

by anouradha bakshi | Jan 30, 2026 | Anou's Blog, Uncategorized

When I decided to cross the proverbial Rubicon, to leave the armchair I had sunk in post losing my parents in an almost catatonic state, I did not know where the journey would take me. I just knew I had to step out and so I did. I also knew that it was time to redeem a pledge made on a hot summer day in a village in Bihar to pay back for all that I had been given. Having discovered my ‘roots’ I realised that it was an accident of history that propelled me into this side of the divide.  I should have been on the other. Anyway what matters was that the time had come to walk the talk.

I had no road map then. I had to create one. I had always been disturbed by the plight of children begging at red lights. To me every child had a right to education and a better life but for these kids there seemed to be no hope. Begging was a ‘profession’ a ‘business’ and as long as there were people who would give money, it simply thrived. It was all demand and supply so if one cut the demand… So I thought.

So why not address this issue as part of my paying back journey. After much brainstorming with like minded souls, one came up with, what naive me believed, a programme whereby we would urge people to give nutrition instead of coins. And when the business of using children to beg would not be lucrative, maybe it would stop. How foolish was I! Today a quarter of century later. there are as many children begging at red lights as there were then. You got it right, our nutritive biscuits project died a quick death and we were left to lick our wounds.

For years I drove by the same crossing under the Nehru Place flyover. Many families live under this bridge. Their profession: begging. If you drive past early in the morning you will see women cooking on make shift stoves. The children are already knowing at car windows in the hope of an elusive coin.There use to be a little girl who was a baby in her mother’s arm when I first laid eyes on her. Then she grew up and must have been about 2 or 3 when one Sunday as I drove by I saw her being initiated in the art of begging.

As years went by she grew up and we made friends! She knew I never gave money and most of the time carried fruit or biscuits in my three wheeler. One day  she came running and asked me for chocorate the generic time all the beggar children who knew I did not give money used when they saw. My little girl with huge light eyes is now all grown up and I guess she will be married and soon produce children who will follow her footsteps.

Some years back we started a small outreach for the beggar children of Kalka Mandir. They are the ones in this picture. You would never say they are beggars.  They look just like any other children all smiles and giggles. Kalka Mandir as all temples is home to many beggars. There is a small shelter where women go when they are expecting and about to deliver. As many women come with their older kids, we decided to run our first lass there. For some time it was a dream come true and that is where I met my bucket baby. But then some people did not like what we were doing and threw us out. We tried in two there locations but we sadly had to close. I felt the look more than anyone else. This was not the first time happened to us. We had earlier tried to teach the children under the flyover close to mu house and the children were thrilled, but again we are shooed away by some men. I guess they did not want the children to get the ‘taste’ of anything other than panhandling. They knew that education had the power to rock the boat.

We rarely  look at a beggar in the eye. Maybe because we feel uncomfortable or guilty.  I do not know. However it is a beggar woman who taught me one of the greatest lesson or my life. I was in college and had gone to Connaught Place for some errand. A beggar woman started following me asking me for a few coins. That day my pocket was empty so I stopped, looked her in the eye and told her gently I do not have anything today. I am sorry. She took both my hands in hers and said to me “you have given me more than you can imagine” I was perplexed not quite understanding till she added ” you looked me in the eye; you acknowledged me as a human being”. I can never forget those words and since that day have always looked at beggars in their eyes.

Beggars are human beings first and foremost. Many beggar parents in Kalka Mandir did send their children to school.Should you visit in the morning you will see many children in clean uniforms, their tresses coiffed beautifully ready to go to school. The children. are eager to go to school and learn and parents do their best. I remember a beggar woman sitting on a step with her two school going children and holding a copy book and a pencil. She was helping her kids with their homework. I asked her if she had been to school and she proudly answered, ”I have studied till class III!”. One wonders what brought her to where she is now.

Beggar parents do care for their children. How can I gorget my beggar friend Rani whose compassion touched me. She had a niece who was orphaned and rather than send her back to the village decided to keep her to ensure she get and education! And what was even more touching was the fact that many of the beggars who were sitting around seconded her decision and offered whatever help they could proffer. But what moved me was how the very people we reject and sneer at, the ones that live on our so called ‘charity’  had a heart far larger than those who live behind gates or in impregnable mansions.

The children you see in the picture are children just like ours. They deserve a childhood, an education and much more. When will we get outraged at the kids who knocks at our car window at a red light and wake up and do something. I do not know.

I only know that it is the plight of a young beggar that shook me out of my torpor and compelled me to act. if not for  Manu there may have not been Project Why. The lesson he taught me was to never say die, but more than, that that no life, no matter how wretched it may seem, is without purpose. Every life has a meaning and needs to be respected and celebrated. Manu’s was to see I set up Project Why. To most Manu would simply be an annoying mentally and physically challenged beggar, but to me he was my inspiration, my mirror and the one who showed me the way. He taught me to respect every human being that came my way. I live by his maxim.

So next time a beggar child knocks at your car window, don’t look away. You do not know what miracle is hidden in her eyes.

The length of a lifetime

by anouradha bakshi | Jan 24, 2026 | Anou's Blog, Uncategorized

“Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime” wrote Herbert Ward.

Let me tell you a story.

A little girl, not more than 11, has been standing at a red light hoping to sell all the flowers her mother has entrusted her with.She knows the evening meal depends on it. She knocks at darkened windows of cars that stop not able to see who is inside.The rich like to remain invisible. Most of the windows remain shut, the light turns green and she moves away a tad disappointed. It has been a bad day. She has not sold many flowers. A e-rickshaw stops by and drops its passengers. The little girl approaches the driver in the hope of selling him a flew flowers. He tells her he will help het to sell ALL her flowers and makes her sit in his vehicle. The little girl desperate to sell her roses agrees. The man takes her to a nearby forest rapes her and believing her dead leaves her bleeding and unconscious and flees. The little girl regains consciousness and manages to reach her family. Her parents rush to the hospital and contact the police. The girl still shell shocked  cannot narrate anything coherently. She is now undergoing medical treatment and counselling. Rape leaves scars not only on the body but deep within the mind, spirit and the soul.

This is not an imaginary story. This incident happened in Delhi on January 21, 2026!

The police has managed to arrest the perpetrator who confessed that he has seen the little girl many times and had planned the abduction. He is 40 year old. She was 11!

We all know that the accused will at best  spend some time in jail and will be set free. The  little girl will carry this pain for the length of a life time.

When we started our work over two decades ago, there was a young girl who use to attend our classes but always sat away from the others and no one talked to her. I watched this for a while then decided to find out why this happened. The young girl in question had be raped when she was 3 by her neighbour. The man spent 5 years in jail and then was released to carry on his life as if nothing happened. The girl however was ostracised and branded as the ‘raped one’ as if she was responsible for the rape. This terrible unfair and abhorrent treatment was meted out to her for no fault of hers. That is why no one talked to her in class. I saw red and set out to rectify the situation by explaining things to her peers. Soon the issue was sorted and the girl sat with her friends.

This is the stark reality. Rape victims are often targeted. It seems to always be the fault of the woman: the way she was dressed, the fact that she was out at night. Recently a Chief Minister, who is also a woman held the same discourse.

I have recently been perusing the over 2000 blogs I have written over the past two decades. I realised with dismay that over 150 of them are about rape.

Way back in 2011  a young woman was raped in a bus in India’s capital city. There was a hue and cry. Civil society ‘woke’ up from its habitual torpor and some action was taken. But then we all retreated back and rapes continued mercilessly. From babies a few months old to women above 70, every one was rape material!

There are 92 rapes in India every day or a rape every 15 minutes, that is a whopping number of rapes between December 2011 and January 2026. ( 92 x 365 x 15 = 503700).

Does it take 503700 rapes to wake us up!

A little girl was raped last week. Quietly, without fuss. She was a flower girl and no one cares about flower girls at red lights. So there will be no lighting candles, holding placards, writing soul stirring poems, marching on the street, making noise, clamouring for death penalty and fast track courts. Just silence and a small snippet on page 5 of one newspaper.

When I expressed outrage on social media on the brutalisation, rape and murder of another child and asked the question we all want an answer to” WHEN WILL IT END?” a friend wrote back: never in India. I was shocked and angered but mulled the answer and realised that what he wrote was true.

It is not that ‘rape’ does not make news. It does time and again when the rape is brutal or when the victim is a child or even a baby. But still we do not take to the streets every time we hear of a rape. When the rape is laced with other overtones like politics or religion then it makes good copy for the TRP hungry media we hear about it relentlessly  for a few days. But what happens. Nothing. A few empty promises by the powers that be, some noise by the opposition in true electoral game mode and we naively believe them and go back to our comfort zones while somewhere in India someone is raped every 15 minutes. No one is held responsible, neither we the civil society nor politicians and rulers. Our outrage is short lived. Or memory even shorter.

We are actually barking up the wrong tree.

It is not severe punishment like hanging, or even stringent laws that will bring the change we seek. We have ample proof of that. The journey is within, within each one of us, within our social mores, our so called traditions, our skewed beliefs, our education system, our ‘values’ etc. That is hallowed ground everyone is scared to touch. Who will bell the cat.

Our politicians? No way! This is the best electoral game fodder and no political party would want to lose it. It could bring down a government. So they use it to the maximum and will continue to do so. It has all the ingredients for the most toxic brew: caste and creed, who would want to give that up.

Our so called religious leaders? No way again. First many indulge in such acts in the name of faith. But there are more pernicious reasons: they need to maintain status quo, or else their power may decrease. I often wonder why our religious Godmen who have congregations of millions of followers, TV channels and so on never talk of gender equality, child marriage etc? They could bring a sea change. But they need to play to the gallery too!

No one wants to rock the boat.

To end rapes one has to address uncomfortable issues. Rape is about power. A power instilled in a male child from the moment he is conceived. he is born superior, superior to his female siblings, the ones living or the ones killed in the womb. The first person responsible for making him aware of his power is his mother, a woman. That is how it begins, across social classes, across religion, across caste. Genders are not equal. The boy is brought up differently: better food, clothes, schools; more freedom; more of everything. His escapades are forgotten, his aberrations too. Boys will be boys! he is brought up in an environment where girls/women are considered inferior. He sees it everyday. That is what he learns. That is the only value system he is made aware of.

Look at our blessings: may you have thousand sons! Never a thousand daughters. It is time we treated our daughters and sons equally.

Then there is the matter of honour! Who decided to burden the tender shoulder of a girl with the weight of the family’s honour. It is too heavy a burden. It usurps her right to childhood. It hijacks her right to laugh and run and play like her brothers do. Why does she have to bear te burden of a veil, the need to cover her heard, hide her ankles, sit demurely. Why is the subjected to the deafening code of silence should she dare mention any sexual abuse. Why is she made to be the victim.Why!

And if she dares break the code then why is she always asked what she wore, where she was, what she drank, what time was it as if each of these can condone rape. No perp is ever asked that is he. Boys will be boys and men will be men.

And then let us look at education. Surreptitiously and zealously sex education, the only weapon a child can have to protect herself, was taken off the curriculum in the name of tradition, of samskaras. I ask is rape in our samskaras! In our DNA. It is time we reinstate age appropriate sex education in every school. Growing children have to understand how their bodies change, what is normal, what is age appropriate. It is time to bring sex out of the CLOSET.

This will not happen in a day or maybe not even in a generation, but the ball has to be set rolling. Or else we can continue to cry RAPE every 503700 rapes ad infinitum as nauseam.