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...
to the manor born…
arun's operation has been shifted from the glamour of Apollo Hospital to the down to earth corridors of AIIMS.many will wonder why?Should I just say that only a few are to the manor born, and project why is not one of them. So then why did one even consider it...Till...
“Every child is a thought in the mind of God…
and our task is to recognize this thought and help it toward completion."Everyday I get reminded of this beautiful quote as I look at the little children who come to project why. It is amazing how each little pair of eyes that look at you as they mutter their often...
the planet that repairs broken hearts
the past posts on this blog may have sounded to some full of anger and even hurt..as i reread them on this quiet and hot sunday morning, i realised that it may have given to those who do not know project why, am impression far from reality..so here is a glimpse of...
whose life is it anyway!
ashya and fatima are twinsthey are 2 years oldall their milestones are delayedthey cannot walk and cry in pain if made to standthey cannot talk.. nor do any of the things a 24 month child does..they have been with us for almost a year and have not grown...ashya and...
and his heart beats on..
By this time next week Arun's heart will be repaired ..It should have been done years ago..Today is the first time I could spend some quality time with this quiet, unassuming child... His tired smile was filled with hope and his frail body spoke volumes ..Arun speaks...
jump the band wagon
why is it that if one person thinks you have done a great job then everyone wants to say the same..then you wonder whether there is any value at all to the 'awards' and 'merit certificates' that get thrown at you.strange that some of those who call and write praising...
A bone to the dog is not….
A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog..goes the proverbThe past days have seen a flurry of activity as an entire network of whyBees have been buzzing in order to ensure that young Arun's...
whose heart is it anyway!
Arun, a dalit boy of 13 who looks 9 will undergo heart surgery next week...Today we were worried as the doctor feel his condition is deteriorating...A wonderful support network has suddenly been set in place by the magic of the net and people from all walks of life,...
maybe i should get the yoga teacher back
last week a TV crew came and spent many hours filming projectwhyin spite of many disappointing experiences in the past, somehow the arrival of cameras and mikes never fails to send a rush of excitement in everyone...everyone puts its best foot forward, the right words...
7 days on a planet
It has been a eventful week, with beautiful moments :the men in white have decreed.. utpal is not in danger, no dreaded B virus but just hepatitis Aand we may even be able to find the funds for Arun' s much delayed surgery... the money collected by his family more...
back to his hole
The doctors have given their verdictUtpal does not have the dreaded B virus but just a severe bout of hepatitis AUtpal will have time to conquer more hearts and to share his laughter with manyI can only say that this happened because of all those who petitioned Gods...
as the snake waits in the wings
St Exupery's beautiful fable has never ceased to fascinate me.I got my first copy of the little prince as a young teenager in Algiers, a city so close to the sahara desert where he made his landfall. I would have never guessed that this beautiful tale would weave...
french fries and project why
look at this smile...it belongs to a lovely lady I have never met in person, but who has walked into my heart across the screen of my computer.sarmishtha is a software engineer and hold on a film maker!she came to know about project why and decided to help... and it...
ninety three
ninety threetwo simple digits, but ones that should have tranformed the lives of the children of India:I am referring to the ninety third amendment to the constitution of India..It took half a century for the children of Independant India to get the right to free...
alONE – the week after
citizen onewas the award that a daily paper decided to select me for..moment of great joy for the younger gang of project why who are still, thank god, simple hearted and honest and thus view life that away, a gang ably led by shamika..moment of bewilderment and some...
where is the soap..
we have our own little prince.. a three year old bundle of pure joy named Utpal. he suffered third degree burns when he was one and everyone gave up on him, even the men in white, but we did not... today he fights for his life again as he has been diagnosed with a...
wedding planners with a difference
wedding planners 2, originally uploaded by anu musings. this morning i watched project why's very own wedding planners at work and boy was i amazed...somehow i never realised the meticulous work that these two girls had put over the past weeks..two dinners, the...
whose baby is it anyway!
whose baby is it anyway!, originally uploaded by anu musings. yash is now two months old..he came to us when he was barely 2 weeks..the hands feeding him are not his mother's but to him they are safe hands..yash's story is that of many children who are brought into...
a unique wedding
claude de scoraille landed yesterday...this is the very lady who dropped by in december to visit project why and then was touched by the magic of pwhy in a unique way: she decided to get married in the giri nagar slums..a traditional indian wedding with the groom...