ANOU’S BLOG
Building a Future Beyond the Founder: How Project Why Found Its Wings
After 25 years of leading Project WHY, I faced the challenge every founder eventually confronts: how to ensure the organisation would survive beyond me. This is a story of resilience, hope and the people who helped secure its future. For every founder of a social...
Gentle, kind and always smiling!
In my almost three decades journey with Project Why there have been many moments that have made me proud be it a child who has passed an exam or a heart surgery that was successful and everything in between. But today my heart is swelling with pride, my throat is...
The haunting flute
Twice everyday a haunting melody is heard from the street below.. It is the flute and toy vendor who peddles his ware in our rather upmarket colony. Street vendors still ply across the city though much less than some decades ago. The flute vendor in our street has a...
Out of the Box
India recently hosted the India AI Impact Summit! Anchored in the principles of People, Planet, and Progress, it envisions a future where AI advances humanity, fosters inclusive growth, and safeguards our shared planet. AI is here to stay! Some go as far as saying...
All heroes do not wear capes
The picture above is of Akash Saroj. He is not a Project Why student. He is a delivery agent in Delhi or what is known as a gig worker but he is the kind of person I would like ALL my Project children to know about. He proves in no uncertain terms that compassion does...
Five Lessons 25 Years of Project Why Taught Me
When I started Project Why, I believed I was setting out to change lives. I soon discovered that the people I thought I was helping were, in fact, changing mine. Over the past twenty-five years, thousands of encounters—with children, parents, volunteers, and complete...
Don’t lose faith in India
A personal reflection on patriotism, poverty, injustice and hope—and on a promise made to a father: never lose faith in India.
Next time, don’t look away
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...
The length of a lifetime
The story of one little girl becomes a powerful reflection on child abuse, silence, and our shared responsibility to protect the most vulnerable.
The dot you do not see
The dot you do not see on the picture, is our planet Earth viewed from the Martian sky. It is a beautiful reminder of who we truly are and takes care of any hubris we may be tempted to fall into. This is all 7 billion of us viewed from the heavens above. Makes one...
The anatomy of a blog
I start blogging in April 2005. That makes it 21 years and over 2000 blogs. It all started like this. It must have been circa 2003 when I realised that the proverbial ‘pockets’ I easily dug into whenever extra funds were needed were emptying at the speed of light or...
It is not what you GATHER but what you SCATTER
It is not what we GATHER but what we SCATTER, that tells what kind of life we have lived were the words on of the greatest athletes of our times began is speech at a red carpet gala function in Los Angeles in December 2025. He was to receive a life time achievement...