if ever there was…
Jonathan Blake Wade1950 - 2005If ever there was a man who epitomized all that project why stands for it would be Jon..A human being par excellence..A man who was first a man, before being white, or brown, british, or indian..He transcended the usual tags and...
a ‘note’ to remember…
the door bell rang and for once it was not the impatient courier man, but Ram Lakhan, our good old postman!Strange it had been a long time since one had seen him. I had almost forgotten the days when one waited for the postman at given times, .. how he had been part...
leave your shoes at the door…
In many parts of our country and in many lands across our planet, shoes are left outside the homes.. a custom that makes a lot of sense which ever way you look at itif one were to take the image a little further, one could also think of it as a way to leave problems...
where children dare to dream
project why.. where children dare to dream..were the words that came instinctively to my mind when I designed the first project why brochure. they have remained there, unnoticed... but somehow quietly guiding us in our task...when our friends from Japan decided to...
insects and blows, lesser souls’ woes..
let me tell you a tale.once upon not so long ago there lay an unused palace in south delhi district.. it had been a labour court, but then as it lost occupants and soul, it lay empty sometimes utilised for noisy and messy marriage functions that left their plastic...
he who plants a tree…
he who plants a tree, plants a hopesaid Lucy Larcom (1824 - 1893)..never were words written as true as in the case of Preeti and our new aloe vera project...Stop a moment to look at Preeti's smile before your read on...Preeti is 19 though she looks 12.. she suffers...
when r met n
it was a special day at project why...we had a special guest, one that has been a friend even before he saw our world or met any one of us.rabin came all the way from chennai and spent the whole day with us.his smile won eveyone over and the magic of project why...
soft murmurs
As Nutan's story unfolds, India comes to light, with its hard realities and softer truths. Nutan is 30 and is suffering from a severe heart malfunction.Years of ignorance laced with neglect, years of living the life of a woman in a society where women are lesser...
victim of ignorance
Nutan a mother of four was diagnosed having a severe cardiac malfunction in a district hospital in Bihar and advised immediate corrective surgery. Doctors were optimist.That was two years ago...For two years, Nutan suffered, her condition deteriorating day by day. You...
of dreams.. and broken zips
as children we have all dreamt of what we would want to be when we grow up... i remember wanting to be an air hostess, a nuclear scientist, an astronaut and god knows what else..even slum kids have dreams: they often want to be teachers, doctors.. even actors.. and...
a country without women…
I did not get to see matrubhoomi, young Manish Jha's much acclaimed film...I left for chennai the week of its release and thought I would see it on my return.matrubhhomi did not run for a second week in India's capital city. it got good reviews and was awarded in...
he sang with all his heart.. and waited
the little fellow in red singing his heart out is Aman a little gypsy child.last wednesday, his mom made him wear his smartest clothes, scrubbed squeaky clean in spite of the paucity of water in the camp where they live and sent him to project why.in days gone by, i...
return of the prodigal…
just got back from chennai and will write about my visit soon ...but today i want to share the joy I felt returning..home!yes this little planet as i like to call it, has become 'home' as isn't home the place you feel wanted, loved, cared for... was it the little...
chennai calling
when the tsunami - a word none of us knew post 26/12 - waves hit the shores of India on a fateful sunday morning, I did not know that it would create ripples in a little planet tucked away in a small delhi slum.we set about collecting money for a boat, and we managed...
Dear Nida….
Dear Nida,Thank you for your lovely mail and of course you can call me Anu!I chose to answer your mail in this weblog, because much of what I would like to write to you, is what I would like to say to the young women of a land I love with deep passion. I must confess...
a rupee a day makes the world smaller
I am an Indian expat - living in San Diego, California now. I was born & raised in Delhi, and, like so many others, had become immune to sights and sounds of abject poverty surrounding me everyday. I came across your project while doing some random net surfing during...
salt, sugar and a proud mom’s love….
If you look at the picture you will see a little tear that is about to fall... why is aditya crying as he clutches his pink bag?Some of you may remeber a post in the June archives of this very blog entitled 'the other WHY', and the same little aditya asking questions...
return from the hood
this week we made it to outlook and for once the article conveyed the reality of project why and its hopes and dreams. For once readers are spared the 'ambassador's daughter' walking the slums, a cliche that makes me mad and has been used ad nauseum...project why came...
guess whose coming to tea…
guess whose coming to tea... project why's very special page '3' ladies... seema, sarita, geeta, urmila, vinita , savitri... never mind if they live in shanties, or jhuggis, they were invited to a farewell tea by friend and colleague Mylene, with whom they have worked...
there is fish and rice…
i had a most moving experience as i watched a scene enacted by twobeings as different as night and day..one is a little 3 year old indian slum kid and the other a 50 year oldupmarket frenchman ..but they are tied by an invisible thread called love.so when xavier came...
it’s a kind of magic..
One dream one soul one prize one goalOne golden glance of what should beIt’s a kind of magicOne shaft of light that shows the wayNo mortal man can win this dayIt’s a kind of magicThe bell that rings inside your mindIs challenging the doors of timewrote roger taylor...
when today is over…
This is nanhe, nanhe means small or tiny.. he came to us a year ago, could not walk, was incontinent, and barely spoke... we put in with the creche children were he spent time on a chair looking at others ..A few weeks back, we decided to 'promote' him to the special...
‘You’ve got to find what you love,’
stay hungry, stay foolishAgain, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dotswill somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever....
faith, courage, instinct and the magic of project why
Piya, Sudha, Asha, Misha,Paul, Ronnie, Greg, Sandra, Melanie, Jennifer, Ritu, Sameer, Rohit, Rahul, Ben, Eric, Dr Cohen, Dr Rawat, College of Du Page, Nazeer, Himanshu and the list goes on.... are friends we did not know we had, but the magic of project why touched...
pappu pass ho gay(i)
when i asked some kids what made them laugh most, they all refereed to the famous chocolate ad where big B leaps of joy at 'pappu' passing his XIIth..well yesterday when rani brought her class X result, my joy was not for the camera, it was genuine .. and that for...
of pigs.. garbage dumps … and new beginnings
look at the picture.. this is a project why classroom..many of you may have conjured a 'glam' picture of project why.. yet this how we began in giri nagar five years ago, and this is what our new class room in okhla phase I, next to the railway tracks looks like...we...
the long way home
funding is the one constant source of anguish to anyone engaged in work like ours.. there are many sources but we decided to take the long way home..this is primarily because our commitment to empowerment only makes sense if its has a duration in time and remains...
main hoon na!
main hoon na! or here I am is what each tiny project why tot proudly says every morning at roll call!these three little words are overflowing with meaning... they are not simply an affirmation or act of presence, they hold all their still unformulated dreams.. dreams...
women of substance
meet sophiya and pushpa.. one is a tribal from ranchi the other a dalit..sophiya and pushpa run our okhla primary extension programme..it was about a year ago that we decided to start this centre, and these two ladies were the chosen ones to go and set it up from...
i’m explaining a few things
you are going to ask what is it that makes project why different.. so to borrow one of neruda's poem titles i will say: i'm explaining a few thingslook at the picture, a simple one of a teacher and a handful of children...now listen:the teacher is a gadiya lohar, the...
the other side of WHY
one heart has been mended, one kid is back on course...a bunch of sparkling eyed kids are busy studying...another lot are busy learning the rules of living in our world..little stars shine as they learn their numbers and letters..a planet continues its charted...
The WHY Ruse
Arun's operation is over and God willing he will get better by quantum leaps: children have an uncanny way of making up for lost time!But for us at project why the task is not over. It never is.We do not believe in full stops. Everything that happens, every incident...
If you give money, spend yourself with it.
Two recent occurrences set me thinking about the new lucrative field that I will just call giveBizMess and the new meaning of words like 'giving','charity' and their XXI st century mutations 'development causes' and 'NGO sector' etc..A quick glance at history and...
it is only with the heart that one can see rightly
what is essential is invisible to the eye..was the secret the fox gave the little prince.as i watched arun sleep today on his hospital bed, his heart beating valiantly and with great effort, these words came to my mind and i wondered what aruns' heart had 'seen' till...
But I never asked to be born..
look at this lovely face.. it belongs to Durga, our very own Utpal's half sibling, and his only family!this morning I was shocked to see large welts across this beautiful, innocent face... she had been beaten by her mother..Durga's story is what movies are made...
two simple words…
watch these little bravehearts as they petition the God of of the lesser ones...and you wonder what they are seeking when everything in this world conjures to harm them!some cannot hear..simple minds cannot fight the daily abuse they are subjected to..and an...
A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.
a child will get a new heart, two little girls may be able to live a normal life, a bunch of kids people had given up on cleared their Xth boards with marks as high as 75%, a little girl who could barely hold her head two years ago at age 5, dances and laughs..and we...
the blade broke…
everyday, when I leave for project why, I always wonder what will happen, as every day I learn something new that often makes me change my ways...It can be something a child says or does, some wondrous achievement that fills you with delight and joy, it can be a...