a hundred years from now….
Yesterday I was interviewed by the Sari Kids. It was for the film they are making on pwhy and that they plan to show to their friends and peers in business school when they got back. The film is replete with images and cameos of their month long stay with us and they...
they came, they saw, they conquered
For almost a month now, project why has been touched a very special brand of love. Almost a month ago seven bright students from a leading business school in Paris landed on our planet brimming with enthusiasm and energy. Sofia, Aude, Anais, Matthieu, Aymeric, Jessica...
“The sun illuminates only the eye of the man
“The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. How true he was.A few days back a little ray of sunshine entered our world. Pooja is 7 year old and has Down syndrome. Since she joined our...
the faceless Indian
The parliamentary debate on the confidence motion trust was a gloomy moment for all self respecting Indians. I will not delve into the matter as enough has and is being said. I followed bits and pieces of the day long saga with dismay, horror and immense sadness. Less...
worrying demographics
The rise in the crime graph of our city is cause of concern. Delhi today is a megalopolis. With 13 million inhabitants in 2001, we must now be hovering around 18 million, thus being the most populous city. 700 new migrants arrive each day and 600 babies are born every...
the length of two lifetimes
I normally do not watch TV in the early evening. I was busy with the usual evening chores and had to go to my daughter's room. The TV was on. A local metro channel diffusing its evening news. I was about to mouth the question I had come to ask but was stopped short as...
A single day is enough
A single day is enough to make us a little larger or, another time, a little smaller said Paul Klee. We must be blessed as each day at pwhy make us feel more than a little larger though we sometimes do not take time to realise this. I often get emails reminding me...
A room without books…
A room without books is like a body without a soul said Cicero over two thousand years ago. Belonging to a generation where books were possibly our only real entertainment I readily second that. Then over the years, books played second fiddle to the new entertainment...
no english for girls
A news item on a leading TV channel caught my eye yesterday. In spite of girls performing better in schools at every level, the number of girls joining the English medium stream in local government schools is still small. The reluctance according to a secondary school...
saving the planet – a quaint dilemna
Saving the planet is a fashionable conversation piece. It has been so for quite some time. Yet how many of us walk the talk? To once again use Don Rittner words: “Trying to save ecosystems has more to do with changing egosystems."And there are many egosystems at...
…equals all the people in the USA
India's illiterate population equals all the people in USA screamed the headline of a State of the Indian Education report in a leading newspaper. It did not end there. The other headliners were: 9 out of 10 in class I won't get to college, Most students pass, few...
a lesser evil
A few more musings in continuation to my last post about the new no-fail policy announced yesterday by the Delhi Government. At the outset I would like to say that in an ideal situation I, more than anyone else would have welcomed this move more than anyone else, and...
arresting drop out rates – government style
A news item aired on a local TV channel caught my attention yesterday and made my almost congealed blood run cold once again: the Delhi Government had decided to pass all children till class VIII, doing away with examinations and marks in order to contain drop out...
the mad hatter’s book launch
Day two of the book launch and what a day it turned out to be. Two events were planned in two locations as different from each other as chalk and cheese: a very upmarket hospital and a middle suburban mall; the common denominator: the presence of a chain book outlet....
a launch to remember part 1
Dear Popples was launched this week end. A series of events - three actually - had been carefully planned: two in malls and one in a hospital! I must confess that the past few days had been filled with excitement and apprehension. Dear Popples is the first book I have...
mellow musings
The last post was angry though I had promised to myself not to succumb to anger. But there are moments when resolves break. I am but human. But the anger passes and often a mellow mood follows, one when you try to reconnect with the simpler things and heal...
equal opportunities
A comment on my latest post reads: A comprehensive solution that caters for reduced population growth, offers equal opportunities to all Indians, offers a fair and just judicial system, and a fair market where people can achieve their goals with no fear is what we...
musings
The Delhi University cut off lists are out. A whole 1% higher than last year! You need 90% and more to secure a seat in a prestigious college, and at least 75% to find space in DU (Delhi University). Anything less than that leaves you with few choices: a...
a unique hour
How many of us do actually switch off lights when we leave a room, never leave our computers or TVs on stand by, segregate our house waste shut the tap off while we brush our teeth, carry a cloth bag during all our shopping sprees, or travel in a car pool. Not many I...
Why is God laughing…
Why is God laughing is the title of Deepak Chopra's latest book. I have not read it. Yet, just the title filled me with a deep sense of joy.A review of the book states: it shows us without a doubt that there is always a reason to be grateful, that every possibility...
farewell class of 2008
This is project why's class of 2008. They have all passed their Boards examinations and are ready to taken their first steps in the outside world with confidence and aplomb.But yesterday was party time and this picture was taken just a few minutes before they set out...
The world is full of wonders..
The world is full of wonders and miracles but man takes his little hand and covers his eyes and sees nothing. The words of Israel Baal Shem came to my mind when I saw this picture after a long time. Actually I was putting together a presentation for the launch of dear...
they wait for a miracle
In a tiny room where barely a bed and a small cupboard fit sit Basant and Rekha. They have been living in this 'free' dharamshala (hospice) for almost a month now, but this has not been their first stay here. They are now old hands at living in hospitals across the...
They can brighten up this world
When i first thought of planet why as a sustainability option for project why I had never heard of social enterprise and social business. It was simply a gut feeling that propelled me in this direction and with every step I walked, it just felt right.From day one, it...
they came calling
We had two special visitors last week. Little Deepak and Shubhum. For those who may not remember or know them they were both residents of our heartFix Hotel.Deepak is now a big boy, over two years old and a far cry from the cerulean baby we all feared for. Today he is...
just like the salt
To many pwhy is just an education support programme with some forays into community work, a clone of many such organisations that dot the land. I guess it is in some ways quite that, in spite of the many small and big moments we have lived in the past nine years. Yet...
Two worlds just across the street
When I read your blogs most often the word that used to strike me was "angry"; how angry you were about the system, situation and people. for the first time i think i experienced that were the words that dropped into my inbox yesterday. It was from M, a dear friend...
are times really changing
The spiralling and sky rocketing price of petrol in the past few weeks has finally, or so one hopes, brought to fore the need to pause and think about the necessity to change our ways. Till now the pleas of environmentalists fell on deaf years. At best we nodded...
the times they are changing
Once upon a time, not so long ago, an afternoon at the cinema was a treat almost anyone could afford. For less than a hundred rupees two persons could see an afternoon flick and even eat a greasy burger or share a fizzy drink. Cinema was for the masses. Halls were...
no big deal
The picture you see may, at first glance, seem innocuous and anodyne. A bunch of smiling young ones chaperoned by an also smiling older one. True that they seem to come from different lands but in today's shrinking world this is no big deal!This is what it looks like...
of pink elephants and green skies
There is little one can say in praise of the education imparted by the majority of state run schools. The least said the better. At best it amounts to getting a low pass percentage in your end exams. More often than not it leads to the child dropping out of school at...
He who was a why to live…
I have often wondered why pwhy came to be. A rather pointless question many may say as we are now in the 10th year of existence! And yet it is one that comes to my mind many times, always begging for an answer and never quite finding one.The most obvious answer would...
the trick is to finish with flourish
"A person taking stock in middle age is like an artist or composer looking at an unfinished work; but whereas the composer and the painter can erase some of their past efforts, we cannot. We are stuck with what we have lived through. The trick is to finish it with a...
A lot of water has flowed
This is a picture of Neha and Aditya taken almost three years back in happier times. Since a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. In those times questions were simple and solutions easy. Even mummy learnt to smile as she picked up the pieces of her broken life...
met mrOcean
One day Popples you will meet mrOcean. Many of your friends live close to it and many have promised that they will take you there one day...These words were written almost 2 years ago and are now there for all to read as in dear popples. I must confess a little...
never say never
I would have never believed that one day I would be seeking help to fund the surgery of a man! Most of the hearts we have fixed are those of children, barring Nutan who was a mom and her children's life depended of her survival. She was taken care of and is now back...
wondrous are his ways
The project why journey has been astounding in more ways than one. At every step, miracles big and small have dotted its path with regularity making one believe that the big picture theory really exists.When we began the foster care programme, there was a huge debate...
It tolls for thee.
A few days back we got the visit of the representative of a very up market page 3 organisation. This organisation funds various NGOs by organising high profile fund raising events. As we sat chatting in our new foster care building, the lady told me about a new...