(I begin this post by urging you to spare a thought for Aruna who was sexually assaulted and brutalised almost 4 decades ago. Since she lies in a vegetative state abandoned by one and all: her fiance, her family, her friends and even the justice system. She waits in a...

What does it take to get people to open their hearts? I am at a loss to find the right answer. This is why.It has been almost a month since a little crew of very special children decided to craft dreamcatchers. A little background first. It has been our endeavour at...

This morning I went to INA market. For the uninitiated, INA is probably Delhi's treasure trove for food, and a cornucopia of pleasures for the senses in every way possible. The abundance of colour, fragrances and aromas make it a sensorial delight. You can amble for...

A rather irksome and totally unwarranted incident occurred a few days back needing my intervention. It was a rather unwelcome moment, as I do not like playing boss! But it  did need my attention as one of my dearest staff member had been deeply hurt and I...

 Good dreams slip through the hole, and bad dreams get caught in the web.. says an old Chippewa tradition... whereas the Lakota tribe believes that good thoughts get retains in the web while bad ones slip through the hole... which ever way you look at it, I wish...

My daughter Shamika was awarded the  Karamveer Chakra by iCONGO yesterday evening. This award was instituted for the real unsung heroes, the people who work silently and in the background to make change possible. She more than anyone else deserved the...

Utpal spent Diwali at home, like he has been doing for many years now. It has been four years since his mom vanished and six years since he has been in boarding school. Things have not been easy for this little braveheart as he has had to deal with many disturbing...

This picture was taken this morning. Diwali morning! For this young rag picker it was just another day. He had loaded his rags on his hand cart just like any other morning and was now going to set about sorting the trash so that it could be sold by the evening maybe...

Some astonishing statistics have been in the news lately. Let us start with the 1 crore (100 million) dais for a politician's daughter's wedding. Most of the money was spent on flowers imported from faraway lands. What happened to flowers grown in the country? And...

When I first dreamt of project why, in the days when I was still a green horn and did not know the reality, I conjured a lovely and enabling space where slum children could come and spend time after (or before school as even after 65 years of freedom our capital city...

I have not seen Oh My God, the recent movie about something that touches all of us: religion! I believe  it shows us how from God lover we have become God fearing and how religion has become a business. I think most of realise this or am I being too optimist?For...

Eating chowmein contributes to the increase in rapes. No this is not a joke. This is the latest pearl of wisdom cast by the antediluvian kangaroo courts that 'rule' Haryana by force: the (ill)famed Khap Panchayats. To my understanding, consumption of fast food...

Today is the first day of Navratri or the nine nights in which we will worship the Goddess Durga .We will worship her in each and every form from the young Kumari, to Parvati to Kali to Lakshmi to Saraswati and along the way we will beseech her to protect us, to give...

She was 13. An age when you are and should be a child, carefree and happy. Your life should be filled with laughter, friends and happy occurrences. You should be going to school, spending time with pals and coming back home. And above all you should be safe. But that...

Are we responsible for the arrogance of our law makers and rulers is the question any self respecting India should ask him/herself in the wake of the spate of incidents that have occurred in the past 48 hours or so. Let us begin with the premise I hope still holds...

The recent spate of rapes in the state of Haryana - 13 in just one month - have once again brought the extreme vulnerability of women in our country to the fore. It is not just the crime that is heinous and reprehensible. What is more shocking is the reaction of the...

How many times have you seen your favourite film? I wonder. Personally I am not a great cine fan and rarely go to the movies. I did once, but cannot remember having seen a film more than 2 or at best 3 times.  Often the extra times were to please a friend and...

Square foot for square foot your maid's rent is probably higher then yours. The rents for shanties and jhuggies across the capital have hit the roof. People are paying 30 rs a square foot for flimsy tenements not larger than 10 square feet with no bathroom, kitchen or...

 Six years ago a supporter and friend asked me the following question: Excuse me saying this, but why don't you sell this house.. imagine how many heart surgeries it would sponsor.  I answered the question then to the best of my ability stating that...

Every morning my grandson Agastya comes with me to Project Why before setting off to his school. We land up at the gates of the Project roughly the same time as Radhey brings the special kids in his auto rickshaw. And almost every morning Radha is sitting in the...

We will take a few blows, but do not throw us out of school are the chilling words many pwhy students told their teachers last week, a day after the High Court heard a petition on the abysmal plight of the schools they study in. The story goes like this.For the past...

“Have the people stopped eating and drinking because of the drought?" is what an MLA on a junket said in his defence. Thirteen such MLAs are on a South American spree, many with their spouses and you and I are paying for it! Another MLA defended himself with these...

I was shocked beyond words when I read that a Chief Minister who is also an aspirant to the post of Prime Minister chose to link malnutrition in his state to vegetarianism and figure-conscious girls! And I quote him: "Gujarat is by and large a vegetarian state. And...

 At the recently held convocation of IIT Bombay the Prime Minsiter said that "his heart is pained" by the high cut-offs for college admissions. "We are placing limits on opportunities for our youth," he said. I agree one hundred per cent!Yet there is another...

 I just finished reading Stolen Lives by Malika Oufkir. I came to know about her book quite inadvertently as I was sharing some memories of Morocco with a friend. I actually was talking about the baby elephant that my father, then Ambassador of India, had shipped...

Yesterday Ankit, Praveen and Geeta, 3 secondary school students went to an activist lawyer to voice their concern about the state of education in their school. It was truly an ah ha moment for us. The children complained about the overcrowded classes (140 to 160 kids...

Happy Independence Day! It is our 65th Independence Day and we should have a lot to be proud of. But do we. Sixty five years is three generations and that is a long time by any standards. Certainly enough time to honour and redeem all sacrifice made by those who...

 After the rants and raves about the education scenario it is time for something more soothing and heartwarming. So who else should we talk about but one of our very special kid. Handle with care are the words we often use when referring to Radha, our little...

Yesterday Praveen one of our class IX students from our women centre and a keen singer and musician dropped by home with our coordinator. The reason: needed the husband's help to change two guitar strings. Yes guitars are the new kids on the block at the centre thanks...

The last episode of satyamev jayate was aired last week. It was a collage of the life and work of some less than ordinary people: a young college student who ran a village school after his classes, an old man who performed the rites of unclaimed bodies, a young rape...

One of the most bewildering things over the last decade and more has been the total lack of support  financial or of any other kind from what I could maybe call my peers. By this I mean my fellow Indians who hail from the same social strata as I do and better...

Sunday morning is indulgence time. I normally go to the local parlour to get a pedicure and manicure. The hour or so spent there is the one luxury I allow myself. But unlike other women who spend their time chatting on their cell phones or reading magazines totally...