whose honour is it anyway
It is absolutely inane that as a society we have reached the sad day when we need to debate the issue of whether, what I can only call a cool blooded murder, can be viewed as socially acceptable and be called honour killing. I have listened with horror to the recent...
the ripple effect
When I decided to start project why many years ago a host of supposed well wishers came out of the wood work to dissuade me to do so. There were the hard core cynics, the gentle detractors and the over anxious friends and relatives. I guess they were all stunned by my...
into helpless laughter….
Bhopal is in the news.. again! This time it is not just the terrible tragedy that changed the lives of over half a million people in its aftermath but the other side as well: the cover up, the sell out, the dark games and more shocking revelations. What is disturbing...
tiny water warriors
When I suggested that we begin environment awareness classes with the tiny tots of pwhy, many were sceptical but when Ma'am decrees what can you say! So the classes begun. Every day for about a quarter of an hour the creche kids were told about why water should not be...
sparrows, bees and cell towers
Not so long ago the nooks and crevices of our house were regularly home to sparrow nests. At that time we often consider this invasion a nuisance though we never destroyed any. I cannot remember exactly when the sparrows stop nesting. I cannot even remember when we...
Bye bye well ironed clothes, hello broken shoes
Every time one feebly attempts to try and listen to those who extol the elusive virtues of the Commonwealth Games, heralded as the panacea to all our urban woes, as the magic wand that will transform our disorderly yet cherished city into a world class one, an...
where angels don’t fear to tread
Last week as I drove to the project down our little lane, I saw a small posse of men standing on the street in front of our centre's door. There were about 3 or 4 of them, and one held a sheaf of papers in his hand. They looked harried and worried and I knew at once...
deaths that dont’ matter….
Delhi's flood of deaths that don't matter screamed the headline of the morning paper. The writing was on the wall: 10 homeless persons die every day in our soon to be state-of-the-art capital courtesy the Commonwealth Games! The article makes scary reading. A third...
sustainable not charitable
Charity needs to be sustainable was the headline of a recent article in a leading magazine. Needless to say it caught my eye and I hastened to read it. It was an interview with a top honcho, a lady at that, who shared her view about CSR about charity. For her charity...
who will ring te bell for her
When Ruchika's tormentor was handed over a laughable sentence some months back, the nation was outraged. Television channels were replete with debates on the issue and everyone wondered how the matter would end. It had taken many years to nail the elusive perpetrator...
The magical garbage dump
I recently came across an article about a 'school' in a garbage dump in Mumbai. The article is uncanny. It could have been written for us. It almost recounted the story of our Okhla centre, a story I had never written. It was time to make amends.My mind travelled back...
The last donation
The last donation! Sounds ominous but is is not, quite the contrary it is the harbinger of hope, and freedom.For the past ten years we have been trying to make a difference in the lives of the less privileged and can say with pride that we have succeeded in more ways...
sunshine in the dead of night
For the past two weeks Ram Bacchan has been guarding our house as the husband his away and everyone at the project felt that we (Shamika and I) needed to be protected particularly in the wake of a recent spate of murders of senior citizens ( I guess I qualify the...
BiharWhy
BiharWhy! An incongruous and curious name. And yet this the one C has chosen for a the brand new education centre located in a little village in Bihar's Supaul District. I must admit quite sheepishly that when C had murmured: to go to the village in Bihar and start a...
in limbo
Every year at about this time I sit down to write the annual report of the project. The report begins with a Directors' message, and till date I have had no problems whatsoever in writing it. There was always something to write about: a special occurrence, a...
missing them….
The house is strangely empty. Just a few days back it had been filled with strangers of all shades and hues. There were people everywhere: plumbers, masons, painters, electricians, carpenters almost an invasion! It had been rather irritating at first as we got pushed...
I am not there, I did not die
Heera passed away a few days ago in her village in Bihar. I got the news two days ago. I still do not know what happened and may never know. I guess her young heart could not make up for all the years where it pounded in vain in her frail body in spite of all the...
up close and personal
A recent article on the other side of the Commonwealth games ended with these words: However, no amount of figures can mask the despair of those rendered homeless because of a mere 15-day ‘sporting’ event. “As a society, we have grown indifferent to equality around...
bottles in, grains out!
I recently read an article entitled 'eating disorder'! This one was not about a lifestyle condition of page 3 aspirants. Far from that. This one was about the 1.2 million severely malnourished children of Madhya Pradesh, this was about under one year olds who are fed...
a dangerous decree
“I would like to emphasize that while opening new schools, we should insist that adequate open grounds be provided for playing fields”decreed the Sports Minister in a recent letter to the Education Minister. Some years back I would have jumped with joy and said: way...
the curious case of child labour
In a recent blog I had mentioned the story of the young boy who always came late to school because he supported his family by selling boiled eggs at the local watering hole well past midnight. He was the sole bread earner of his family.Our house is being repaired and...
No instruction book came with it…
Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it wrote Buckminster Fuller. Spaceship Earth, I like the term! I like Mother Nature too! Today as I write these words millions around the world are...
The heat is on
The heat is on. Boy it is hot. 44 Celsius and climbing and it is only the ides of April! I should be complaining but I am not. Wonder why? Please read on...I decided to get my old rambling and falling apart house repaired this year after almost 2 decades. The idea was...
a tale of forgotten biscuits
The sight of beggar children is something that has always upset and pained me. It is the perhaps the most deafening and loudest why that came my way, and one that sadly I could never find an answer to. And yet, though many many not know it, it is the very first why...
I am just a housewife
For the past few months I have been receiving annoying calls from my bank each time we receive a donation, even a tiny one. The caller fires questions like: what is the money for? who is it from? (even of the said person has been sending money for years)? what does...
what is on my bucket list
What's on my bucket list? I must admit that till a few days I did not quite know what a bucket list was. Like everyone else I know what a bucket is - don't we all:) -, had heard the song there is a hole in my bucket and the expression kick the bucket. I actually came...
through her lens
Lorianne is a young photographer from France who came to volunteer for a few weeks. It is amazing how everyone sees project why through different eyes, and Lorianne saw it through her heart. She captured some very unique moments that are a pure delight. You see she...
education from 6 to 14
I have been perplexed, angry, confused, bewildered and even apoplectic at some of the aberrations of the much awaited, much delayed and still far from being implemented Right to Education Bill. The bill has many aberrations. And to the uninitiated they may seem...
soul mates
They are true soul mates and they have proved it more than once. And they are soul mates in more ways than one! Last Monday they took the road to the boarding school, Utpal a now 5 year pro and Meher the rookie. I was a little concerned about Meher as she tends to get...
medical nightmare.. another tale of 2 indias
A recent national magazine wrote extensively in its latest issue about the medical boom that India is experiencing these days. Super speciality hospitals with seven star luxuries and helicopter to cart you to and fro! Seems we are now at par with the most developed...
From five to seven
Seven kids now study in boarding school so from famous five we have now become secret seven. Meher and Yash andhave now joined their seniors aka Utpal, babli, Vicky, Nikhil and Aditya and taken their first step towards freedom as Epicteus decreed: only the educated...
To greet the happy boy!
The child comes toddling in, and young and old With smiling eyes its smiling eyes behold,And artless, babyish joy;A playful welcome greets it through the room, The saddest brow unfolds its wrinkled gloom, To greet the happy boy.Victor Hugo, Lorsque l'enfant paraitThis...
empowerment to ownership
Empowerment to ownership! I wrote the title of this blog some days back and then somehow writer's block or was it the God of lesser beings at play? I do not know. When I did write the title I was feeling a little saddened as my dream of going from empowerment to...
off with their heads….
Off with their heads.. says the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. Hide them away is what the Queen of Delhi has decreed for the beggars of Delhi during the Commonwealth Games. You cannot wish the dross away so you simply conceal them. Do read this article, it...
mehajabi.. the beautiful one
Wonder if you remember Mehajabi and her mom! The ones who lived in a room with a strange view. The one whose open heart surgery we sponsored some time back? Well she was back to visit and what a delightful girl she has become. But that is where the happy story ends....
a perfect siesta
My birthday was to be a quiet day after all the revelry on the previous night. For the past few weeks my life had been dictated by a little bundle of joy, my grandson, and moves like a clockwork orange: 1 pm lunch time, 2 pm siesta time and so on. And believe you me...
a very special birthday gift
It was a party. One you could never imagine in your wildest dream. Would beat the Mad Hatter's one hands down.The guest list was unique and could never have been drawn by even the best event planner. Only the magic of pwhy could conjure that one! Age was no bar. You...
The class of 2010 (cont)
There have been some interesting reactions to my previous post.One said: Spoken like a dedicated, bold and truly concerned teacher.Can feel the anguish and frustration beneth these words.Any thing given in the hands of these politicians has no future. This should be...