ANOU’S BLOG
They died of hunger #GivingTuesday#India
Three little girls aged 2, 4 and 8 died of hunger in India's capital city! Their autopsies revealed that there was no trace of food in their bodies and that they had most probably not eaten anything for at least 8 days. The media is abuzz with the news. The political...
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Numbers Game #GivingTuesday#India
A recent article on the quality of persons correcting CBSE class XII papers sent my blood running cold. One must remember that marks are of the essence and that careers depend on the marks you get. A high score guarantees you a place in Delhi University a place...
I hold every person a traitor #GivingTuesday#India
"While millions suffer from hunger and ignorance, I hold every person a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the slightest attention to them" Swami Vivekananda. This quote was part of a play that Utpal's school put up for the Republic Day...
Complex problem solving #GivingTuesday#India
I have been screaming hoarse for the past 18 years that education needs to be reinvented in India if we aspire to become a leading nation in the future and if we want our youth to find employment. Sadly no political dispensation has made education reforms a part of...
Let the twain meet #GivingTuesday#India
I challenge anyone to tell me who in this picture was to the manor born and who was not. It is quasi impossible. And yet some in the pictures come from one side of the social fence and the some from the other. Let me elucidate: this is a picture of teachers from CSKM...
Above all else, we taught them to fear failure #GivingTuesday#India
I recently stumbled upon an interesting article entitled: When success leads to failure! It was an eye opener in more ways than one. Th article is about a parent and a teacher discussing a well performing child. The words that caught my eyes were: Above all else, we...
An apologia for state run schools #GivingTuesday#India
I have always held that to bring about meaningful change, it is imperative to make state run schools centres of excellence. Only then will every child have the opportunity to change her morrows. Sadly we seem to have taken the other route: privatisation of education....
Children are meant to laugh, not kill #GivingTuesday#India
Two horrific tragedies occurred last week in the capital city. In the first one a 5 year old sexually assaulted his 4 year old class mate in an upmarket school and in the other, 4 school students slit the throat of a young man over an altercation over a phone. The...
Bye Bye House #GivingTuesday#India
So the deed is done! After months of procrastination and doubts the old now crumbling house is ready for a makeover. So bags were packed, boxes filled with memories and moved to a new transit home waiting with bated breath for the day one would move back lock stock...
As Delhi chokes #GivingTuesday#India
Delhi is facing a critical health crisis. The pollution rate is alarming. It is believed to be off the charts. Some call the city a 'gas chamber'. Experts suggest evacuating the city. But is this a viable option for the millions who live here/ The causes are many...
In the land of silence and raised eyebrows #GivingTuesday#India
Came across an interesting article on the need of sex education in India. Sex education is a highly controversial topic as for some it is seen as offensive to Indian values, and concerns that it might lead to risky sexual behaviour and promiscuity. What its detractors...
Startling and shocking numbers #GivingTuesday#India
A recent report from theInternational Food Policy Research Institute states that “India is ranked 100th out of 119 countries". The indicators used are : undernourishment, child mortality, child wasting and child stunting. The statistics of 5000 children under 5, dying...
And the drop outs go on #GivingTuesday#India
This graph appeared in a recent newspaper. It makes for interesting reading as to the situation of school drop outs in India. For us at Project Why, its is of prime importance as our primary mission has been to contain school drop outs something we have done quite...
Kamala – An unsung woman of substance
It is Kamala's centenary today. It will be celebrated in the centre that is named after her and where two of her most cherished ideals are pursued: education and women's empowerment. It will be a low key affair, a far cry from the loud and impressive centenary...
Not your daughter, wife or mother #GivingTuesday#India
In a recent heated debate on women safety, a spirited woman anchor told a politician that she and for that matter all women, were not anyone's daughters or sisters or wives. She wanted to be considered simply as a citizen enjoying the same constitutional rights! A...
It is time we looked at rape in the face #GivingTuesday#India
Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi's launched a 'Bharat Yatra' against child abuse on Monday with the words: "Each time when a child is raped, our conscience, innocence is raped. I am not going to tolerate this. I am going to change this." The sad reality is that a...
Broken Beyond Fixing #GivingTuesday#India
I recently stumbled upon an article entitled: India's education system is broken beyond fixing; we need to reimagine it entirely. It caught my attention as this is something close to my heart. The author refers to education as being a 'terror outfit!'. It kills an...
The school bizMess #GivingTuesday #India
I send my child to school because I believe my child will be safe. This is undoubtedly what most parents feel when the wave goodbye to their child at the gate of the school or the school bus stand. But all changed on the fateful day when a little seven year old was...
Auf Wiedersen Liebe Carla #Giving #Tuesday India
This post should have gone up a long time ago! All in perfection as it is said. Our website crashed and for almost a month we were 'under construction'! But we are back now. A few weeks ago we bid farewell to our dearest Carla: friend, mentor, fund raiser...
Naresh Sir, with Love
Project WHY opened its first spoken English class for secondary students in 2001 in Giri Nagar. It was the same time that Naresh had just completed his Bachelor’s degree in Arts and was looking for a job. He was a whizz mathematician and loved to teach, and to fulfill...
Your child will follow your example, not your advice. #GivingTuesday
Live so that when your child thinks of fairness, caring, integrity she thinks of you. These words sum Ram and Kamala's life. Today a more than a quater of a century after I lost them, and in the seventh decade of my life, I know I could not have been who I am if not...
If not for you Kamala
The Trust does not bear her name. Once again it was the flamboyant husband who won the match! But the real inspiration and the quiet and gentle motivating force as always in my life was Kamala Goburdhun née Sinha. Her lessons were not exuberant like those of her...
Finding a purpose #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) Project WHY’s journey starts with the story of Manu, a boy with special needs who the founder of Project WHY, Anouradha Bakshi, came across one fateful summer day in 2000....
A sticth in time #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) Born to a poor family in Bihar, Gyanti Devi never had the opportunity to learn as a child. Soon after her marriage, her husband, who is severely handicapped, required...
Malte, The joy of Giving #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) The only issue that really disturbed him and made his life miserable in Delhi was to see the poverty and suffering on the streets. Every afternoon, returning...
Passion for Life #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) Indian society continues to treat disability with indifference, pity or revulsion. Low literacy, school enrolment and employment rates as well as widespread social...
Not the India I want to live in
This picture is not the LOC. It is not an incarceration centre. It is not a prison. It is not a loony bin. This is my home! This the wall that separates us from our new neighbours! I seek your indulgence today for writing a very personal post. I ask it in the...
We push them in. Please don’t push them out #GivingTuesday#India
The Delhi government, while inviting applications for admissions to nursery, kindergarten and Class I, has imposed an upper age limit of 4, 5 and 6 years, respectively, on applicants. It is so easy to make 'laws' for children who have neither voice nor vote! And it is...
Angel in disguise #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) “All God’s angels come to us disguised” said James Russell Lowell. Utpal a.k.a Popples, and Outpal to all his friends is a force to reckon with, and a great...
Chandan Play it forward #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) Chandan came to Project WHY in 2002 as an electrician. He lived in the community of Giri Nagar, where our original centre was based. The Project was in search...
Bindass Babli #GivingTuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) When Babli first came to Project Why in 2004, she was a bright-eyed, feisty girl; what some Indians would call Bindaas, meaning carefree and confident. She loved books and...
Anita the power to say ‘NO”! #Giving Tuesday#India
(Posting a series of success stories from the compilation The Project Why Stories 2000-2016) Anita’s relationship with Project WHY started in 2002, when she started studying as a young girl studying in Class 3. Her father comes from Bihar and moved to Delhi in...
“At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon.” #GivingTuesday#India
“At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since" wrote the inimitable Salvador Dali. Dreams are never too big. Dreams are never too small. Dreams are dreams and dreams come true if...
I am a part of God’s wonderful creation #GivingTuesday#India
Use the skills that I have got. Do not focus on what I have not. Of course, I am aware of my limitation. Yet, I am a part of God’s wonderful creation. William E. Lightbourne A recent article brought once again the terrible plight suffered by mentally challenged souls....
Love is in the air #GivingTuesday#India
Today is Valentine's day. A day to celebrate LOVE! A day to remember what love truly means by going beyond the pink hearts and red roses! A day to take a walk down memory lane and reminisce about all the love stories of our lives. I have been blessed with many, each...
True beauty is reflected in the soul #GivingTuesday@India
Called it synchronicity but came across the word UGLY in two different contexts recently. The first was a touching article about a woman who had to bear the ignominy and hurt of being called the ugliest face on earth in a post that went viral and the other was as an...
Smiles in custody #GivingTuesday#India
A little girl was crushed to death by a vehicle last week. She lived in a shack under the Nehru Place flyover. Her family is part of the posse of beggars that live there. It is a spot I pass often en route to Project WHY and have been interacting with such children...