meri mummy…
You think you have seen it all and that you are immune to heart wrenching situations.. well beware that is not the way life is..Utpal has now been a resident of my home fro over 2 weeks, he adjusted like a fish in water and laughs, plays, eats, sleeps and plays.. true...
WHY..just for children
we have moved.. to a tiny rickety building, in gali no 3 of the very congested govindpuri area.. away from the larger spaces we had, but we have moved to our own .. the building will house our early education programme and our special a kids in two large rooms on 2...
games gods play
I write today because I am a liittle perplexed..When God or whoever else is up there, lands you with a child whom he has put through much emotional and physical pain, a child with both ugly visible and deep seated invisible scars, what does he want you to do..Ease the...
CZS or the syndrome continued
I wrote about this syndrome earlier . This syndrome is far more complex than we think. As I watch students agitating against the quota system and being beaten up by policemen I feel more disturbed than ever. I realise that even pwhy sunk into the CZS as it basked in...
when was love logical…
In one night utpal lost all he had.. he did not have much by our standards but he had a home to go back to, and above all a mother whom he loved with almost illogical passion..but when was love logical...Over the last four years Utpal has taught us many things but...
a braveheart..named utpal
He is just four.. or 48 months old.. not a big man.. but a true braveheart.. he just checked his mom into rehab and will not be seeing her for six weeks.. that is the rule..His mom drinks.. and a woman that drinks is treated with utter disdain in slums where she is...
All God’s angels…
When little Leila Fodil left her country in 1983 to seek medical care in France, all she and her family must have wished was for her to win her battle againts leukemia. When, in spite of the love and care of her foster family she lost that battle in 1985 , no one...
brain games at pwhy
It was brain gym time for teamPwhy, as Sareylom held a day long workshop for our staff! Plates and flags were flung in the air amidst laughter and fun. This was the first workshop where all the staff participated..The aim was to help individuals integrate body and...
CZS or the comfort zone syndrome
We will soon be moving.. from a comfortable 6 room flat to a motley medley of space. Many are a little perplexed about this change.. but it was necessary as we were slowly sinking into the comfort zone syndrome a.k.a according to me as the government job disorder.. a...
happy b’day anouma’am
This may just seem a fun picture to many, but for me it is much more.. if you look with your heart..This is our very special section.. one that has been crafted with love and patience with little souls no one wanted, let alone believed in..Two years back little Sapna...
a special gift…
When project why began as a small spoken english centre, I had begun dreaming.. dreaming of the day when it would become an independant entity and fly on its own on the wings of the people that made it happen: the kids, the community, the staff, the well wishers.. and...
He who has..
"He who has a strong enough why", said Nietzsche " can bear almost any how". I must be blessed, having project why!Life would stop if we stopped asking questions and seeking answers.. I guess that is why people often grow bitter in their twilight years.. there are no...
ramu’s reprot card
Ramu brought his report card this morning with a beaming smile.. i remember him saying that he would stand first and he did!Ramu lives in a cramped shack and has no place to study.. he often has to look after his siblings - babli and arzoo - as his mom comes home...
a smile referred to….
Shhh.. nanhe sleeps in the comfort of his home.. I know it looks more like a damp dungeon, but it is his haven as it is filled with the love of his little family..Last week was a bad one as he had many fits and spent some night in the hospital ward, but he is back...
a motley winning team
remember ramu, babli's sullen brother who was handled with great efficiency by our knights in shining armur... well he did us proud as he stood first in his school in Class V... and that is not all, all our primary kids have passed.. even those we did not think would...
heart caught in red tape
I do not know Anshu Kumari.. I just hope someone had shown her the way to our heartFix Hotel..A leading TV channel aired her story. It went like this: An 11-year-old girl in Bihar is awaiting help for her heart surgery despite President APJ Kalam offering to bear the...
a smile lost
nanhe is in hospital again.. and we are worried.. he was doing much better and we were waiting for the doctors to decide upon the next surgery.. two days ago he was unwell and was taken to hospital where he had a series of fit.. he was admitted immediately..nanhe...
don’t forget she is a girl
For young Sandhya the wait continues.. after her chicken pox got over and the 61 K were deposited, sanhya went to AIIMS and we were hoping that a date for her angiography and subsequent surgery would be given fast. Well for some reason or the other it was not and the...
fiestas of another kind
great bike.. all boys want one some day.. a valid dream that can be yours if you work hard would be the normal line to pitch..well not quite as one has been witnessing with growing panic..our ersthwile quiet world has been invaded by a new army.. and eebiz is the...
incredible women
Recently many articles were written on young Rubiya from Kerala, a muslim girl who is a bharatnatyam dancer and has danced since age 3.. often to sustain her family. When shunned by the local mosque committee this 17 year old retorts with rare wisdom:“God is one. When...
Is he still smiling…
Went to what at best could be called a funding fantasy.The cause AIDS children in the north eastern states of India; the venue: an up market club; the sponsors: jewellery tycoons; the guest list: Delhi's very own page almost 3; the chief guest: a minister.. food and...
funding fantasy
These words dropped in the mailbox this morning: "I am just about to lose my patience here with ..... I don't understand what their problem is - seems like they just want to dissect each issue to pieces forsaking the larger picture at hand."They were written by a...
genderBias
Last week, it took me a lot of patience to convince a shopkeeper to give Utpal the kitchen set he wanted.. the shopkeeper tried as best he could to sell mr P a gun, or a car or anything that was for boys! but mr P knew his mind and he wanted the kitchen set to be able...
spair grace soup and lemongrace tea
teach my child english.. was the first things many parents asked me six years back when i first landed on planet why.. now many may think why every parent feels that english is necessary for their children.. come on what use would a vegetable vendor or a mechanic do...
happy birthday mr p
It is mr popples 4th birthday.. what a lovely boy he has become.. abrave heart in more ways than one.. i still remember the first time I met him, when even the men in white had given up on him.. but when I looked into his eyes filled with pain, I saw life.. and...
she deserves her dreams…
My heart went out to Nandini has she heaved herself down the lane, her precious books in her hand, I asked her to come and sit with me and then enquired upon what the doctor has said. This matter of fact young lady told me that she could not be operated upon till she...
too late for nandini but not for sandhya
Sandhya landed up at hearfix hotel today.. a little 6 year old she needs heart surgery and her parents took all the initiatives and got her checked... something we are pleasantly surprised about as often parents give up, particularly when the child is a girl..They...
will M’s tomorrows be safe.. (cont)
(in the previous post we tried to imagine what a child's tomorrows may look like, if the persent situation continued; let us now imagine how things can change..)M's or s's tomorrow can be safe.. but if many ifs happen! So let us take it from the top again..Their...
will M’s tomorrows be safe..
M is busy learning.. he is lost in his own world, and as serious about his work as any other child.. wonder what is going on in his little head..If we look around us, it is difficult to predict what might happen to M, who belongs to a poor migrant labour family.. but...
moving on….
Welcome to why house - for want a better name - this where we will soon be moving, or at least part of us.. this is also a transition time for pwhy.We at pwhy have always held that children from all walks of life should attend regular school. schools run by the state...
jump for
Jump for my love.. said the pointer sisters in their famous song!Wonder what A is jumping for...A is an autistic child and lives locked in his world that no one understands.. not even his own family.. his mother loves him but does not know how to, his father does not...
hands up…
I have always been fascinated by the theory of synchronicity. One of the definitions I like is the following: " Synchronicities are people that come your life to help you evolve or to place emphasis on something going on in your life. "I sat this afternoon taking a...
smiling on…
It has been some time since I wrote about nanhe.. so here is some news.. he has been back at pwhy and thrilled to be with his friends.. and rearing to make up for lost time..Since his return he has had several outings and no sir not only to the hospital: Nanhe visited...
special gift to honour a son..
It is always very difficult to find the right birthday gift for your adult child.. you are either likely to go wrong or land up giving something they already have..And yet each parent wants to make the right choice.. Steve and Sandy oudid everyone and found something...
dreams on hold
We just heard that it is too late for nandini... she cannot have corrective surgery.. one feels terible as this child deserved to have her dreams come true.. and maybe we can help her.. so her dreams are now ours to fulfill10-3-06 nandini was born with a hole in her...
the other side of midnight
Wedding time seems to have gripped our city and we have had an array of them: from the creme de la creme to the simple folk.. wedding bells were ringingIf people did not stop talking about a recent page 3 wedding that panned three cities and many nights, we had our...
clairobscur
I love the interplay of lights in this picture.. it reminds me of India and its surprising ways.. whne you think that all around you is dark, a glimmer of light appears from nowhere and brings back the hope you had almost given up on..last week delhi was stunned by...
B from the city and N from the village
babli and nandini.. both innmates of our heartFix hotel.. and believe it or not, they are both 9.. one grew up in the slums of delhi, the other in a village in bihar..they were both born with the same congenital heart defect.. babli as you know had heart surgery and...