snapshots – two Indians
Tow separate incidents occurred last week and somehow stayed in my mind. To many they would have gone unnoticed and yet they say so much about the India we chose to ignore.It was election day. We have a new live-in maid at home. A middle aged lady who hails from...
Reinventing a future
Remember Babli? Yes the one whose heart was fixed with success but life was not. The little girl who wanted to be a police? Seems she needs us again as she of all the 12 children who have had heart surgeries is the one who has not grown an inch or put on a pound.Babli...
when ruchi primps champa
Thursday afternoon is grooming and self-care time in the special section of project why. This is when the students are taught all about looking after themselves and even looking after each other.Manu gets a vigorous pedicure courtesy Shalini Rinky tries her hand at...
smiles to die for
This is a sneak picture.. it was not a PTA day. Dharmendra had gone to Goyla to meet Utpal's school principal and while he was waiting for him, he managed to get a glimpse of Popples surreptitiously.This picture will set to rest the minds of all the die hard Mr P fans...
India at 60 – the plight of children
It took a shocking story to get the Government to look into the matter of burial sites for little children in India's capital city. Politicians ignore Nithari in the run up to the state elections in Uttar Pradesh, as the families of the dead children are simple...
a tale of two indias – the plight of dead children
Bachha ghat is not a play ground for children, it is the only place where children under three can set be to rest after their death. Hinduism does not allow them to be cremated as it is said that their soul is not connected to their body! This was brought to light in...
electoral results
The verdict is out in the municipal election. The party in power was routed, or almost as most of Delhi, or let us say the 43 odd % who went out to vote seemed to blame the party in power for all their woes ranging from the sealing drive to the lack of civic...
creating with your spirit… planet why
For the past days I have been overwhelmed by images of Planet Why that keep surging into my mind, often unsolicited and unsought. These images are amazing in their clarity. They extend beyond the visual and stimulate every sense: I can see, hear, feel and even smell...
project stats
There was a time not so long ago, when we waited with bated breath for march 31st. That was the day results were declared in both primary and secondary municipal schools.As mark-sheets landed on our desk and children dropped by with sweetmeats, our excitement grew...
Electoral games
The municipal elections are over.. They were less noisy and almost poster free but candidates did make their presence felt in novel ways: loads of street ambulations that looked like marriage parties where the well garlanded candidates paraded as grooms (never mind...
a huge moment at pwhy
Manu, a young physically and mentally challenged young man lived on the street, neglected, dirty and soiled. People would feed him but like you feed an animal. Children threw stones at him. His family abused him in all conceivable ways. No one touched him, when things...
a peek into planet why…
This is where planet why will be one day....believe it or not this place is in Delhi!
a one of a kind birthday gift
At my advanced age one does not celebrate birthdays or expect gifts. Yet this year I decided to mark my double five by unabashedly asking for a present from my crew even using the power of being captain of the ship!I must confess that it is part of a game plan I have...
The debate continues…
The supreme court order staying the OBC reservation issue has leashed out a series of reactions across the land. This time I kept my pend in check waiting before adding my two penny bit.Last summer was one of discontent as many young students took to the streets to...
planet why – sustainability factor
Seven years ago we set out to create a model whereby underprivileged and illiterate or semi-literate parents could be empowered to steer the educational needs of their children with local resources.The model proved doable as in the last 7 years drop out rates were...
planet why – hope and believe
When a package enclosing two healing stones marked 'hope' and 'believe' landed on my table after travelling an incredible 12 000 km all the way from Ontario, I knew something huge was about to happen in the existence of project why.The stones were actually meant for...
seeding planet why
Many things have been happening at pwhy and some of them point towards the indubitable yet maybe invisible reality that Chapter I of pwhy is slowly coming to a close. Most of the slums we work will eventually be relocated as metro lines extend and the dream of some...
planet why
Life is a strange and fascinating journey. It is said that when a child is born his brain has the possibility of learning anything he is taught. After that begins a selective process that mirrors the child's environment and hence appears the choice of language, likes...
give me five!
Miracles happen to those who believe them says a quote, but some are a little difficult to imagine let alone believe in. And yet on that long hot drive back from the grim rehab centre to my home about a year back, there was a picture that flashed in my mind as I held...
mother and child reunion
A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them wrote victor Hugo and yesterday after on whole year Utpal must have slept soundly.It has been a long solitary journey for utpal and his mom, but they are both survivors.It was also the first...
why ki tazaa khabar
why ki tazaa khabar is a new blog that saw the light of day on March 17th. The idea was mooted by the following words sent by a long time supporter: I find a major problem which is lack of information... my only problem is that I never get any information about that...
from milk vans to call centre cars
I have always been a morning person and a light sleeper. Yet for years I never woke up before 4 or 4.30 am. If I let my memory travel back I realise that often it is was the cling clang of the Delhi Milk Scheme vans that used to wake me up. Sometimes a crow or a bird...
Sapna’s mom
To me she will always be Sapna's mom though her name is Bimla and she is also Monty's mom. She came to us almost 4 years ago carrying Sapna who was 5 but could not even hold her head, let alone stand. She used to drop by sometimes dragging her feet and looking far...
penhandling for a smile
I have been in the begging business for seven long years.If you look at the word 'beg' you find the following synonyms: panhandle, ask for money, seeking charity, seek alms.. not very gratifying and yet that is what I have been up to. I have used every trick in my...
little red bag revisited
I wrote about this little red bag many moons ago! After delivering its contents to Utpal's dorm in school, it returned empty and sat in the linen cupboard waiting for its next mission. A few days back I retrieved it from the top shelf . Om march 17th it will set off...
greenBlues
I have been harping about the importance of environment issues, the plastic menace, the lurking water wars. I am the first to try and point this out when I wear my project why boss hat! Imagine my surprise when this morning in in the privacy of my bathroom I found...
one of a kind
Yesterday my dear friend North sent a mail sharing her panic about her son Lee whose building was on fire. I cannot go to him, I cannot hold him, nor can I send him money to replace his loss's... we both need prayers of courage and strength..These were the words of a...
a bedtime affair..
Dropping by Pwhy blog has become a bedtime affair now wrote a friend all the way from China. and goes on to say: and while I know every day probably passes quite like the other, do hope to hear more abt the pwhy kids and their families on your blog.I stand corrected!I...
i’m an alien
I'm an alien I'm a legal alien sang Sting in his hit song of the eighties entitled an Englishman in New York. I had forgotten this song but it sprung from the recesses of my memory as I sat in front of my TV, remote in hand switching channels in the hope of finding...
mumbai footpaths
A mail dropped by recently in my mailbox. It opened with the words: I have been visiting Project Why for quite some time now and its quite interesting to know the way you take up issues. In fact I have been observing certain things out here in Mumbai but since I don't...
reality check
An anonymous comment on a previous post- reality notes 2 - with you, for you, always - came as a bit of a jolt. It said: here is a bit of advice. Instead of running around like a plucked chicken trying to prove your point (and who knows what that is!), why don't you...
reality notes 2 – with you for you always
As I had written in my previous post, I set out this morning with a well drafter complaint (courtesy my lawyer)to seek protection from those who are meant to give it to every citizen namely the Delhi Police whose motto we all know is with you, for you , always!As a...
reality notes
I have often written about the hungry wolves that lurk in every corner trying to destroy any attempt that dares disturb the social balance they have set in place, no matter how lopsided it may be.What is even more disturbing is that they succeed in a manner of...
Lost in translation…
remember these girls? Maybe not as our memories are short, and images get blurred or overtaken by others ones, particularly when the issue is not directly related to our lives.Let me refresh your memories. these little girls are some of the children that invaded the...
Give me another mandir!
Today was a special treat. A visit to Utpal's school. Rishi was kind enough to set aside the rules to allow Xavier, Utpal's cyberDad, a few stolen moments with the one he calls pepere in spite of the fact that school examinations were on.It was a warm afternoon just...
not to be deterred
Once again, on a fine morning the students and staff of pwhy were greeted by a gaping hole in the wall of our Okhla centre. This is not the first time and probably not the last. Wonder who did it, some drunken lads for a bit of fun or some mischief maker. Who knows,...
united in .. death
Two deaths were reported in the press yesterday: one on the front page and the other in an inside one. Both were heinous crimes. Both stemmed out of some unfathomable quirk of the mind.In one a 'servant' had simply killed a young boy and an old relative of the house...
holi hai!
In trying to explain the significance of holi to my foreign son-in-law I found myself searching the net as my knowlede did not go beyond the Prahlad-Hollika story. On this site, I read the follwoing: Originally the festival was primarily for the Shudras who were...