sometimes you wonder why…
project why came into being to try and answer some of the innumerable whys that stare us in the face demanding answers. the answers however remain elusive and bring more questions and as you carry on you realise that apparently simple questions lead to deeper and more...
even she smiles..
I just got some pictures from katy who has been a regular visitor to the ghaziabad ashram for the past 4 months. Somehow she never gave up, even when others did..I spent a long time looking a them and was moved to see how quickly and easily children forget the ugly...
we need you
I have been perturbed about the future of the ghaziabad girls. Often when I am uneasy about something I sit quietly and let my thoughts wonder in an unbridled way. It fills the terrible emptiness that threatens to devour me, and often brings some solutions or at least...
a return courtesy call
A few days back we had made some courtesy calls, to find out about the well being of some of our children.This morning, little Deepak made his return courtesy call. It was a very special moment for all of us. He came in his grand mom's arms but soon decide to show us...
one week .. and too many questions
One week ago we were celebrating the rescue of the girls after a 24 hours vigil! Most of us would have liked them to come to Nirmal Chayya Delhi as initially planned. But, in spite of the presence of two autonomous central bodies. National Commission for Women, and...
nursery blues– yes to interaction; no to interview
I have watched with despair the comings and goings of the new admission policy for nursery classes in public schools for quite some time. Had it not concerned children, I would have been amused.We are once again faced with the normal beating around the bush attitude...
yesterday’s news, tomorrow’s fear
In recent days we have witnessed many convictions of high profile people. yesterday the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment stating that no permission is needed to prosecute public servants charged with corruption case.Most of the aforementioned cases have come...
courtesy calls pwhy style
In times when nets and cell phone proliferate, making courtesy calls is almost an aberration. There was a time when paying a call was the only way to get the news you sought. Oddly, in some cases it remains at times the only way at our disposal.Three calls needed to...
bags of hope
You may wonder why this silly pictures of plastic bags. Actually they are not just plastic bags. They are bags full of hope.As I write this post they sit patiently under my ironing table, in the very corridor where one little bundle of joy ran blissfully pretending to...
Once you chose hope..
Once you choose hope, anything's possible said Christopher Reeve and he knew what it meant.In the past few days many have written about the plight of the ghaziabad orphans. Most have expressed anger, outrage and their desire to help the girls and see the abuser...
whose life is it anyway
Nanhe has lost his smile, pain was too big an adversary. It is heart rendering to see him moan in pain. He is not eating and can barely sit up. He barley connects as he is on heavy medication. His body is swelling because of his tired and stone ridden kidneys.His...
just what we feared
When we first heard of the ghaziabad ashram, it was at a gathering where the ashram was presented as a humanitarian project needing help. two visits were made by us on the pretext of cleaning, but in the hope of getting some of the girls to vindicate what I...
morning has broken
Morning has broken, like the first morningBlackbird has spoken, like the first birdPraise for the singing, praise for the morningPraise for the springing fresh from the worldHad I written this post yesterday, it would have been filled with anger, dejection and ire. It...
Night
Night was the title that Elie Wiesel chose for his account of the horrors of a concentration camp. No adjectives, no nuances, nothing, just one word night to qualify the horrors.The little children of swami ashram spent one such night, if not worse, as there was not...
Outraged and dejected
Some of you may remember my post about the little house of horrors, and the plight of orphan girls locked up in pure hell. I had ended the post with the words: we need to act.Some of you may have wondered why the ensuing silence and even thought that we had forgotten...
In the name of a father
Yesterday was my father's 14th death anniversary.. It almost slipped my mind. Strange as there was a time when I almost lived for that day.. planning all kind of commemorative mush: flowers, rituals etc..Wonder why the change: simply because of project why!Mourning...
Wish I had a dream catcher
Good dreams slip through the hole, and bad dreams get caught in the web.. says an old Chippewa tradition... whereas the Lakota tribe believes that good thoughts get retains in the web while bad ones slip through the hole... which ever way I wish I had a dream catcher...
how long does it take to become jaded
A few days back little Deepak went back home after his heart surgery and tomorrow little Anil goes for his. Statistically speaking they are no 8 and 9 in pwhy's heart repair shop!It was just over three years ago that we answered a desperate plea from a great father ....
remake the world
Too many people are sufferingToo many people are sadToo little people got everythingWhile too many people got nothingWe wile remake the worldWith love and happinessRemake the worldPeople, put your conscience to the testJimmy CliffIs this what these two little lads are...
the art of learning
These little children sit on a wind swept terrace, on top of a tiny jhuggi overlooking a sea of slum dwellings in India's capital city. A few days back they use to spend their times, roaming filthy lanes. Copy or slate in hand they wait for today's lesson. A palpable...
pencil box to simply jometry
Where did I buy my last jometry quipped little Kiran.For a few moments I was perplexed then it dawned on me: she was referring to a pencil box a.k.a. geometry box. I am sure many remember the rather ungainly tin box that we carried to school many years back and that...
I sat on the edge of my bed and cried
Every morning before I set out for the day, I watch the news on TV. A old habit become more relevant since pwhy began as one has to be anchored in the reality that surrounds us.One is prepared for news about violence and bombs. one is even resigned to the fact that a...
children will be children
I had to share this picture with you! This is a Kodak moment of the afternoon session of our bran new Govindpuri primary extension. the room we have is so tiny that it is only sufficient to lock up the meagre resources we have. Classes are held on the roof as the...
welcome back our world !
Deepak has a brand new heart or rather has got his broken heart fixed. A huge T shaped scars is ample proof of that.We first met Deepak almost 5 months ago when he was 8 months old. He needed heart surgery but his family did not have the required money. We raised it...
That is all it takes!
We have a new primary extension in the back and beyond of the Govindpuri slums!Sophiya and Israel were given the task of finding space and kids! Many may wonder why the need to add on a new primary centre. Once again it is all about comfort zones!One could feel...
orange juice revisited
I have always held that the poor emulate the rich! This is apparent in more ways than one: urban slums weddings for instance now look like upmarket ones: food stalls, decorative thrones, DJs and smoky dance floors.This is also apparent in the proliferation of cell...
how many deaths..
Seeing the aftermath of the Bhandara tragedy cannot but bring to mind what bob Dylan wrote more than 40 years agoYes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knowsThat too many people have died?I will not write about the horror of that night, the shattered dreams of...
Locked in silence
Sometimes you wonder why children are made to suffer! I wrote about Himanshu locked in his world and who had found a pal in Nanhe. Well someone got jealous or cast a spell and the next day nanhe found suffered acute renal colic and had an epileptic fit that send him...
an unsung mother courage
I have always loved the Greek word 'hubris'. The dictionary gives many meanings to it: from arrogance, to pride to cockiness.According to me there is only one being who has the right to be hubristic and that is God him/herself, in whatever shade or colour you may...
dil deke dekho.. dilli!
A few weeks back we were contacted by a organisation asking us to participate in a national effort whereby young bankers of a leading multinational bank would come and spend a day at pwhy as part of the CSR effort.A draft programme was sent to us and we were asked to...
a promotion for nanhe
It has been along time since one has written a blog about pwhy children. Somehow the sombre mood and events of the past few weeks had hijacked much of these posts.But while the city was being held to ransom by the sealing saga and numerous bhands, life did not stop...
thirty four to one
I asked my old acquaintance Mishraji why our local DDA market had so many cars parked in front. Mishraji and I go back a long time, when he worked at a provision store in M block market GK1 and I shopped there for my daily needs. That was about 25 years ago!Today...
get one free
She is 11, goes to school but there is a catch; she has been married to a man more than twice her age who is also the husband of her handicapped sister.The future of children and particularly girls with disabilities has always been a source of concern.Often their...
serious musings
One of the devious ways to disrupt pwhy in the (mistaken) hope of wishing it away that local politicos have adopted is to first get some simple minded staff to commit a serious lapse that forces us to take action and then edge that person to take us to labour...
a matter of the heart…
When Sitaram came to us three years ago seeking monetary help for his son's cardiac surgery we never knew that he was heralding a new avatar for pwhy, that of fixing hearts quite literally.It took us two months to get the needed funds and raju today is a strapping...
where small is not beautiful…
Welcome to the land where small is not beautiful..Wonder what I am getting at?Two recent news items caught my eye. One pertains to sealing and its effect of small traders, and the other on the proposed amendment to regulate foreign donation to NGOs. In both cases the...
when cars land in slums
Over the past six years I have had to fight many battles. Lost some, won some. Sometimes the adversary is too formidable as was the case of the MLM people who came with their rehearsed pitches, their alluring promises and their fast track to riches!They came, saw and...
Jhola days around the corner
I watched the sealing drive yesterday. The targets were big fish be they showrooms, offices of even government institutions. The government suddenly took the rule of law very seriously.Later in the day I read an article ringing the death knell of small NGOs located in...