class of 2010
This our class of 2010! It is a matter of pride for me to write about them on the very day the children of India have finally got the right to education after waiting for sixty three long years. This class beat all odds and made it in spite of all those who took...
in the queue
Recently a friend wrote a short note in the memory of the loss of two of her dear friends. It was a touching note reminiscing about rites de passage that had always been shared and she reminded us that this one too awaited us all. The wisdom was in accepting it and...
of the terrorist, by the terrorist, for the terrorist
For the past few months many annoying things have occurred. First after years of placid relationship our bankers have suddenly jumped into mistrust mode. I now regularly get calls or mails asking inane questions, this in spite of due diligence having been undertaken...
every 8.7804 minute
An invitation card for a upmarket promotional do, landed on my desk yesterday. I do not know why such cards come my way! And as always it made me wince. The card looked like a cigar box and was made of outrageously expensive paper. Open the box and in lieu of cigars,...
Prince will never study at Princeton
Prince will never study at Princeton - excuse the pun! But Prince is actually a very real human being and one that does us proud. He came to us many years ago as a primary student. A seemingly shy and withdrawn boy, Prince was nevertheless always first in class and a...
commonwealth.. and common woes revisited
OK Delhizens loosen your purse strings, your state needs you. You will have to pay your tithe for the honour of hosting the commonwealth games! So from now on everything will cost more: cooking gas, CNG, ghee, tea, coffee, utensils, mobile phones. VAT is being...
when tables flew and roses appeared
Christopher James is a magician, but a magician with a huge heart. A chance encounter in a pub with one of our volunteers, few words exchanged and voila, Chris was all set to come and spread some magic in the lives of our kids. He came this morning armed with his bag...
for all the wrong reasons
The case of Jennifer H is heart rendering. Imagine being adopted at the age of 8, abused by your adoptive father, moved to 50 foster homes and often abused in each of them and then when you finally have found a way out, had two kids and reclaimed your right to be...
sweet dreams are made of this…
I remember the day when I first met Sanjay. It must have been 8 years or so ago and he must have been 14. We had just begun teaching a primary class at the Lohar Bati, gypsy camp, located next to our first centre. Sanjay and some of his pals, who had all dropped out...
Little men…
Meet Agastya and Utpal the two little men of my life. Just like the Little Prince they landed into my existence when I least expected them and yet most needed them. One came when I was going dealing with personal demons and needed to rediscover myself and test my own...
a gift of knowledge
A few months ago I got a mail form a young friend.He wrote: I have recently started an ambitious project to create story books for children and more importantly to devise means to make them available to every child of the world. We are working on the first book right...
one one leg
Imagine a cow standing on one leg. Quite impossible isn't it. And yet that is what the cow that symbolises Dharma or, for want of a better word, righteousness, is meant to be doing in the Kaliyug, that is in our day and age.What it means is that Kaliyug is an age...
no longer on your side
I have a friend who is also my star gazer. When things are not quite as they should be and I need to be reassured, I write to him and seek his advise. He always writes back giving me something to hold on, even if the planetary situation is not quite as it should be....
raise my salary
Our recent efforts to bring about qualitative change in our work call for some modifications and adjustment in our functioning and one of them is the transfer of some staff from one location to another. This of course has met with some resentment. Last week one...
In her bright blue….
In her bright blue and red dress little Radha sits with her friends waiting for the party to begin. Yes, once again it is young Yashu's birthday and once again her mom has decided to bring the two Indias together. For the past 5 years now, the children of the special...
they cannot wait….
Yesterday, in the course of a conversation, a friend shared his concern about an eminent social activist having changed tracks and moved from education to rights activism. The person he was referring to had started and successfully steered a very dynamic education...
the very elusive english teacher
For the past few weeks we have been on a mission: find 2 good English teachers for our new focus on quality programme scheduled to begin on April 1st. To be on the safer side and ensure that all goes according to plan, we decided to begin our search way earlier and...
They had a … ball!
Over the past years I have come to realise that it is our special kids who have truly amstered the art of having a ball! It is in this class that I have, more than once, experienced pured unadulterated joy and it takes practically nothing to get them going: a few tins...
Hello, we are project why…
When Peter sat down to draft a leaflet to highlight project why's work, young Naomi, age 11, asked whether she too could make one. Naomi has never been to project why as she lives in Cranfield in the UK. Her vision of our work comes from what she has heard and...
school admissions… where are we heading
Once again I take my virtual pen to vent my fury over the sad state of education in India, the land that has finally deigned give its children the right to free and equitable education. It took the so called rulers over 60 years to loosen their purse strings and do...
permission to continue…
They tell me that "Project Why" is different because they are not trying to shock us, they are simply asking for permission to continue their work were the words that dropped in my mailbox this morning. They were from a friend and supporter who conveyed the feelings...
as easy an exit as it had an entrance
Heaven grant that the burden you carry may have as easy an exit as it had an entrance wrote Erasmus. A graceful exit and the appropriate time is undoubtedly something we all aspire and hope for. And yet when we charge into an open door we seldom think of how we will...
road to freedom
Only the educated are free wrote Epictetus in 100 AD.Today young Yash and little Meher took their first step towards real freedom. They are to sit for their admission test for boarding school and if all goes well join five other children of a lesser God: Utpal, Babli,...
whose right is it anyway…
Komal may not be able to join her sister in school and that for no fault of hers. Her family filled up the forms in time and completed all the required formalities. As per the stipulated nursery admission procedure Komal should have got the needed points: she is a...
In the midst of winter….
In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer Albert CamusThe recent rape of a 9 year old in Goa has once gain brought to fore the extreme vulnerability of children who are easy victims to lurking predators of all kind. The...
The clock struck one .. and still no one
Yesterday was the Annual Day of the Shanti Gyan International School, the little boarding school where five of our kids study. The show was to begin at 11 am, and we were there on time! None of us were prepared for what was to enfold. More than just a school function,...
need not be one or the other…
I have often been faced with dilemmas, some more challenging than others. And each time a message from what one may, for want of another word, call the heavens has come my way and dispelled all clouds. For the past few weeks now I have been pondering about how to...
a very special birthday
I don many hats, some by choice, others by conviction and still others by compulsion but there is one that was bestowed upon me as a blessing and that is the one of a granny! Exactly a year ago, on this very day my life changed forever. A bundle of pure joy landed in...
Martha who knows how to see with her heart..
Martha lives in Mexico City. She came to see us for a day and got touched by what I have oft called the magic of project why. Back in her country she thought of us and wrote these words I want to share with all. Maybe she more than anyone else, intuitively understood...
if the rumour mill is right…
If the rumor mill is right the slum where it all began may soon be raised to the ground. Yes I am talking about the street where I first met Manu, where we began our spoken English classes, where we started our tiny special section by the roadside in a word where...
advantage… not India
An article that appeared in today's paper revealed the tragic state of primary education. The article begins with these ominous words: the scare raised by the Supreme Court on Thursday about China being poised to overtake India in English proficiency is about to come...
Compassion brings us to a stop,
Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves wrote Mason Cooley. The recent appalling incident of total and shocking indifference that seemingly shook the nation brought to light the distressing lack of compassion that permeates our social...
If you’re alive, it isn’t….
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished : If you're alive, it isn't." wrote Richard Bach. I stumbled upon this quote last week. Somehow the words seemed to be an answer to many unformulated questions that often crowd my mind.I have often been...
tender spinach for little bunnies
Yesterday was a very special day at the project why creche. Twelve little creche kids had been invited by Navakriti School to spend the afternoon on their premises and in spite of the bitter cold the children were very excited. The morning was spent sprucing everyone...
the gift of life
Heera is a young girl from Bihar. She comes from a very poor family. For the past two years Heera has been very sick and parents have been running form pillar to post to get her cured. To do that they spent every penny they had and even sold the little land they...
let us celebrate
The year end festivities are over and today we begin the first week of the new year and the new decade of project why. Overwhelming is it not? But also exhilarating and exciting. The first thing that comes to mind at the dawn of a new year and more so a new decade is...
a father’s gift
An unexpected occurrence enabled me to pay off all the pending loans for the planet why land. Call it a miracle if you wish. I call it a father's gift. I sat a long time, after having written the repayment cheques and let my mind travel back to the time when I use to...
the last day
It is the last day of the year and the decade. Time to take a moment and look back at time gone by as we at pwhy step into our 10th year. Time to allow ourselves a moment to celebrate the achievements and successes of the years gone by and I must admit there is heaps...