reservation imbroglio- whose in whose out
Tuesday morning some French friends set out from our home to board a train to Rajasthan. They were on a three week holiday and were hoping to be able to visit as many places as possible. As they were leaving, I told them rather casually to get in touch in case there...
five – oh – oh
This is the 500th post of the project why blog. By curiosity I went back to blog number one and read it. What a long way one has come since that day when with faltering fingers I wrote the first blog and entered uncharted courses not knowing where they would lead...
a few of my favourite things
Last week a TV crew came to project why. They spent two days capturing the shots they wanted and driving us literally up the wall. When it was over, the producer handed me a form tat he said needed to be filled. It began like all data sheets with queries about name,...
happy b’day girl
When she came to us a few months back we did not know whether she would make it. her tiny and frail body, her almost cerulean hue, her huge sparkling eyes made a quaint and disturbing picture.Her near brush with death made scared us no end, but soon miracles occurred...
.. better than all the rest
You' re simply the best we sang with as much energy as Tina Turner as the 12 girls of our class XII batch cleared their Boards with panache. Yes this year the project why class XII was an all girls batch. A matter of pride for us but also a true reflection of an...
the length of a lifetime
The story of little M should send chills down every self respecting human being's spine. The question remains: Does it? Or have we become so inured to crime against children, particularly small children, that we turn our hearts away.Can any society that calls itself...
You’re simply the best
Once again our kids have done us proud. All 12 project why students have cleared their class XII Boards and some with distinction. What makes this bunch different to all others is that many come from poor homes and have studied against many odds. Some were even...
ultimately it is all worth it..
When Deepak walked into the office this morning we all held our breath and stared in wonder. Was this the same child who just about a year back could barely breathe and seemed in constant pain. Was this the baby who had suffered a code blue, something we see on TV...
a unique summer camp
When my children were young, summer holidays always spelt disaster as one would be plagues with a leit motiv of I'm getting bored or What do I do now. One would try and plan things but they never quite met the standards of demanding kids. Those were the days before...
let us get started…
I normally am rarely at home during the course of the day and thus am not aware of he comings and goings that dot a normal working day seen from the inside of a home. Yesterday I remained indoors on doctor's advise and spent most the time in my tiny office which is...
end of a lifeline
Bye bye hot samosas was the the blog I had written some time back when one first heard of the probable banning of all street food in our city. Yesterday the Supreme Court decreed and imposed a ban on all street food.We often fail to see things unless we have a real...
Blowin in the wind.. revisited
How many times must up a man loop up, before he can see the sky, wrote Bob Dylan way back in the sixties in his legendary song: Blowin in the wind, an ode to all the unanswered questions that dot our lives.Today I am reminded of this poignant words as I watch Utpal...
pablic main thi naa…
Children sometimes say the most astonishing things. Many times it takes you a while to decipher the words as they often assume that you know what they are thinking and deliver the rest in what can best the best riddle..Kiran and I were riding in the three wheeler when...
Reclaiming their rights…
Sunday 13 May was an special day at project why. A Right to Information meeting was held at our Okhla centre. Santosh and Priyanka tow RTI activists from Parivartan and Kabir, came all the wau from east Delhi to explain how this Act could make a diference in the lives...
Apocalypse when?
Global warming is hitting our planet faster than we can imagine. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report: "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability," in Brussels, 6 April 2007 and the findings are alarming and urging...
a new *kid* on the block
Little Kiran has survived all her admission woes and is now in a new school. She is special for all of us at project why as it was the day she was born that our work at Giri Nagar began. Right from the beginning she has been part of us and grown with us.Since she was...
khabhar why ki.. a different look at project why
There is a new blog about the comings and goings of project why. Khabar why ki was launched some time back hesitantly by our incomparable duo Shamika and Rani. After a slow beginning it as now taken off in style.Khabar why ki is a blog in roman Hindi and shares in a...
354495 – a personal journey
India celebrates 150th anniversary of the 1857 uprising often known as the first war of Independence. The capital is in festive mood, a holiday had been declared and the police is on tenterhook as is usual every time we celebrate an event!For the past week TV channels...
A proud moment at project why
Meet our new teachers: Azad and Pinku Kumar. At first glance they look like many of te young teachers we have but that is not quite so.Azad and Pinku Kumar are our old students who have just sat for their XI Boards. Knowing their track record they will pass with high...
I’m explaining a few things
Once again I borrow the title of one of my favourite Neruda poems. The need for this post is based on a call from a dear friend and supporter who was a bit perplexed at what what happening at project why. I guess his doubt came from the posts like this one, and could...
setback
Just when you think that you have got it all in place, that you have achieved the quasi impossible, that it is time to make grandiose plans for the future and that you can bask in your so-called glory, you are dealt with a blow that calls you to order.This picture was...
Medical tourism of another kind
This morning a neighbour of Mehajabi came by. Actually he was the man who had first brought her to us. He had come to collect the precious receipts that would ensure that the child was operated. After collecting the two pieces of paper and listening to the...
a room with a view…
This morning I went to Mehajabi's home. I had thought that seven years had inured be to most things but I was in for a surprise.I must confess that I have been haunted by Mehajabi's mom's face since the time I laid eyes on her and I decided to accompany Rani on as she...
both sides now – the sustainability factor
How to sustain project why is a question that has been haunting me for some time now, I guess time waits for no one and the writing is on the wall! It is a question many have raised, some gently others even brutally. I must confess that I spend many hours thinking...
bahar tak to ajao…
Utpal came home for a few hours on Sunday. It was the last Sunday of the month and normally one should have made the trip to his school and shared his lunch of beans and rice but the extreme heat made me change plans and have him come over instead.We spent the morning...
a dream come true
Sapna, a real dream come true..She come to us almost five years ago and f you drop by this page, this is part of what you will read:She is four, has delayed milestones, as she cannot walk or talk. She came to us about two months ago. Listening to her story left us all...
four point five and dropping…
Four point five and dropping. This is no winter temperature chart but little Anil's weight.He underwent close heart surgery for the placement of a pulmonary artery (PA) Band till more surgery could be done when he was older and stronger.Anil is 15 months old and his...
a senseless death – he was twenty one
Was it only a year ago that I wrote about my worst fears in a post I entitled plastic fantastic lover. I have been watching in helpless horror the gleaming bikes and big cars that landed in the darkest lanes of the slums around us, courtesy a pyramid sales company...
To be a girl…
Modigliani could have painted her. Were she a few inches taller she could have walked the ramp. But little Mahajabi's mom was born in a poor Muslim family in India a land where little girls are not welcome, a land where they are often done away with, a land where they...
a note of gratitude
I met Mallika on the net a year or so ago. It was a time when we were desperate for funds and I use to knock at every id or site in the hope of getting some help. A common net friend connected us and as luck would have it she came to Delhi and we met.The next day she...
a precious heart
Her name means beautiful and Mahajavi is undoubtedly beautiful. She is just under one. She was born with a hole in her heart that needs fixing.The youngest of 5 kids - though her mom looks like a kid herself - she has a right to live a full life but cannot unless her...
more project stats
A few posts back we shared some of our achievements with a sense of pride. Today I was given another set of statistics and once again one felt elated.My mind travelled back almost 10 years when project why began, or rather when the organisation was set up. To me it...
holding on to dreams
Last week two men came to help us with some work at home. Like many others who eek their living on a day-to-day basis they were picked up from the chowk or road side where they sit from the early hours of the morning in the hope that someone would come by and give...
the orphan and the one eyed child
I had heard the story of the the one-eyed child who lived in a small village and was the butt of cruel jokes and a sad laughing stock. His mother climbed a rocky hill on her knees to reach a shrine where it was said miracles happened. Sometime later her child lost his...
gift unwrapped
Some of you may remember the very special gift I had sought this year for my b'day. Yesterday was unwrapping time as team project why gathered for a day long workshop and everyone read their essays ( for want of a better word). I must confess that I was really...
sunshine smile
Whenever one feels low or a tad dejected a miracle drops by to lift one's spirits in a nano second.This week's miracle was a visit by little Anisha and her sunshine smile. All woes and bad thoughts were whisked away as she entered the room in her mother's arms and...
project stats – budget 2006
Our new budget for 2007 - 2008 is on line. Normally a budget is not something you blog on. However project why has reached a stage where in a case of force majeure it has become necessary to review and reinvent.The Damocles sword of the now (in)famous sealing laws...
admission woes
Some of you know Kiran. She has been part of pwhy since its very inception. She was actually born the day we began our work in Giri Nagar.Kiran is a lovely child in more ways than one, and she is an extremely sensitive and humane person. Her favourite place at pwhy is...