by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 27, 2007 | two indias
Her name means beautiful and Mahajavi is undoubtedly beautiful. She is just under one. She was born with a hole in her heart that needs fixing.
The youngest of 5 kids – though her mom looks like a kid herself – she has a right to live a full life but cannot unless her heart is fixed.
You guessed right, Mahajavi is our new inmate at heartfix hotel and we hope to be to fix her heart.
This is how she landed at project why.
Mahajavi is related to the two men who came by my home to do some work last week, probably part of a large plan of the God of Lesser Beings. An answer to a young mother’s prayer or a reminder that in our land every little girl has a right to live? Who knows.
In Delhi little girls are precious even if many do not know it as yet. I read some chilling figures in a recent publication: 25 000 girls go missing every year in this very city. hence it is a matter of celebration that a poor family with 5 children is fighting for little Mahajavi. Before we met them, they had made innumerable visits to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and done what they could. It is divine justice that they found us. Now the ball is in our court and the game has to be won.
To some it may seem pointless to save such a life as they may wonder what her future would be. I chose to leave such souls to their wonderings. A simple glance at her eyes and at her young mother’s eyes is sufficient to know that Mahajavi’s life is as precious as any other little girl’s. As so her future only time will tell..
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 25, 2007 | two indias
Last week two men came to help us with some work at home. Like many others who eek their living on a day-to-day basis they were picked up from the chowk or road side where they sit from the early hours of the morning in the hope that someone would come by and give them work.
Both had lost their jobs in factories, as many do in Delhi, but had refused to lose hope. Over a cup of tea they shared their story in a dispassionate way. Hazari the elder of the two hails from Bihar and has five children. His wife does not work and it is his measly 3000 rs that keeps them going. All his children go to school and his elder daughter is in class IX. His dream is to ensure that she completes her XIIth.
Hazari belongs to one of the reserved classes but has no idea of what that simple appartenance can get him. He has never heard of reservation and has never availed of any of the sops doled out regularly. His day-to-day survival does not give him the luxury of taking time off to get the required papers ratifying his social or economic status. Yet Hazari refuses to give up his dreams for his children, the very reason he left his home to come to this soulless city.
It was poignant to see that this conversation was happening at the very time when heated debates on reservations are once again dividing the nation and the fate of the creamy layer is being veted. This man like many others in our land was just busy surviving and holding on to his dreams. He is already a winner as he has beaten many odds. In a city where children drop out with alarming regularity, his daughter has held on and made it to class IX.
As I mused on about this innocuous meeting, I came across a news item stating that an IIM alumni body had gone to the Supreme Court questioning the validity of a 56 year old caste-based reservation system. What caught my eye were two quotes of from Jawahar Lal Nehru. The first reminded us of his dream of a ” young and vibrant nation, free from the vices of caste and communal divide“. The other went on to state: ” I dislike any kind of reservation. more particularly in services. I react strongly against anything that leads to inefficiency and second rate standards. I want my country to be a first class country in everything. The moment we encourage the second rate we are lost“.
A mere glance at today’s India 60 years after freedom shows that Nehru’s vision has been long forgotten. The debate on the creamy layer is sufficient to show that the very purpose of reservation or affirmative action has been defeated. While the battle rages about the 27% OBC reservation in institutes of higher learning, 6 decades of Independence have not been able to enforce the right to primary education.
It stands to reason to believe that for any affirmative action to be honest, excellence has to begin at the very bottom of the ladder: ie in state run primary schools. Our tiny experience at pwhy has proved beyond doubt that children from underprivileged backgrounds can be stellar performers if given a little help. To cite just one example, Farzana a two times failure in class VII got 83 % at her Xth Boards. Sadly as debates go on, the state of municipal schools in India’s capital city seem to be getting worse by the minute. A mind boggling number of potential aspirants to higher learning drop out of schools because somewhere down the line each one of us has failed them.
The IIM alumni effort is one in the right direction. It is time to define the validity of a reservation policy that seems to be doing more harm than good, as it is fracturing our society with impunity. Any affirmative action has to be time bound. Otherwise it will lead to impairing rather than helping. Alas, as long as such policies provide fodder to vested interest, solutions will be difficult to find.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 17, 2007 | two indias
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 Eastern UP. She went about her chores but I could feel she had something to say but did not quite know how as she had yet to discover our ways. Her restlessness was palpable so I ultimately asked her what the matter ways. In a hesitant voice she asked whether she could have some time off. The reason was that she wanted to exercise her franchise and vote. She finished her work and changed into a smart outfit slung a handbag on her arm and went off to accomplish her civic duty. Nothing and no one could take that away from her.
***
Last Sunday was terribly hot. It was around noon and having a few errands to run I had to brave the heat. The usually empty road was filled with people and vehicles as some entrance examination was being held in the nearby government school. As I passed the school I saw a young man laying it out books on the pavement – actually the dust road -. The books were all sots of guides and help manuals that he was taking out from his canvas bag. In a short time aspirants started crowding around and a few sales were clinched. What an enterprising young man. I passed by that spot twice in the next few hours. The first time business was brisk. The next the man had disappeared as I guess a policeman must have come by and applied the sometimes seemingly absurd law. I felt a pang of sadness as I had wanted to talk to the young man. I hope he did make some profit.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 11, 2007 | two indias
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 a disturbing and shocking news item aired yesterday on national television.
What one forgets is that what is set to rest is not a few pounds of flesh. What is set to rest is a child, nurtured and loved by its mother, held with pride by its father. What is laid to rest is a set of unfulfilled and crashed dreams, what is laid to rest is a life cut short.
I can speak with authority as I lived all my life under the shadow of a dead brother I never knew, one that lived but a few days on earth but lived in my mother’s memory till she breathed her last, a brother who was ever present in my life. I guess my parents were lucky that he was born and died in an alien land. A tombstone marks his brief passage on earth in a Prague cemetery.
I can speak with authority as only a few years ago I scurried around the city with a tiny bundle in my arms looking for a dignified place to lay it to rest. To many it was just a 7 months still born foetus, but for one young mother it was her first child. I had been summoned to Safdurjung hospital by a pwhy staff who was admitted there, as this very young mother had gone in a state of shock when she was told to hand over her child so that it could be thrown in the hospital dustbin. She had refused to let go of her baby and sat in catatonic inertia. When I reached the maternity ward I just held out my shawl and gently asked the girl to give me her child promising her a dignified send off. She did. That was the beginning of an ordeal I cannot forget.
I took my precious bundle which for me was above all a mother’s love and went to the one place I knew: the Lodhi crematorium foolishly believing that there must be an option for young children. As we alighted from the three wheeler I could see a bunch of predators (read funeral rites priest) approach us, gauging our worth and probably thinking we were an advance part to some funeral. When they knew what we had come for, they just walked away in disdain, not even listening to our plea.
I must thank our stars that no one guided us to bachha ghat. Refusing to give up as my promise had to be honoured, I stood my ground. A few minutes later an elderly man approached us and told us that we could bury the child a little further in the empty grounds that lay ahead. He did not reveal that it was the defecating place of the nearby slums. We found a place that seemed clean. No help was forthcoming from the people that had gathered around so we slowly dug a grave with our bare hands, and lay the little child to rest, wrapped in its shawl, and carefully laid stones on the grave and placed the few flowers we had brought with us.
Yesterday’s news item brought back this forgotten day.
We are a city busy building malls, and expressways; we are a city displacing the poor with impunity; we are a city busy dividing the gap between rich and poor and yet this incident shows that at least in death rich children and poor children are treated the same way.
The said TV channel held a discussion of this shocking reality and once again we witnessed the birth of a new polemic with all the necessary ingredients for endless debates for all: politicians, opposition, religious leaders, the judiciary, the newly empowered citizen groups et al..
But as the debate goes on, more children will find their way to the baccha ghat while the city will be busy for 2010 a red later day for many. Today’s world is for the living rich, not for the dead and least of all for the poor.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 8, 2007 | two indias
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 planet why and revel in it
This is an entirely new experience for me as I normally tend to be governed by a well honed Cartesian mind and need to find reasons for everything placing myself in the centre and attempting to be in control. The success graph has been mixed and always carried a heavy price. In order to do things ‘right’, I needed to allow myself to be intercepted by outside factors and often have my true desires hijacked unknowingly, while I sat thinking I was on the right course.
With Planet Why I find that things seem to have taken a 180 degree spin as I know it will happen and the usual doubts, angst and fears that normally accompany any new venture seem strangely absent. In its place there is a fervent need to share, talk and make my vision known, no matter how incredible it may seem. Even the routine voices of doubt one hears and that usually take on huge proportions are cast aside with a smile.
We all love looking for reasons for the things we do and once again we try to find those that make us look or feel good. And if one was to look at Planet Why from this angle there are many reasons that one can find, but any attempt dwarf the spirit of this place that seems more and more to come from deep within as the only plausible path to walk at this moment in time.
So allow me to give you a glimpse of Planet Why:
Planet Why will be located in the sleepy village of Goyla known for its dairy and buffaloes. A pond sits nearby the chosen location and is surrounded by shrubs and trees, and like all villages in India protected by a tiny shrine to the faceless local deity. The village does have its share of urbanisation with many new structures, but one can still find some old homesteads and the local village council. There are several government schools and many children in need of educational support and guidance.
Planet Why once again aims at working with these children as is done at Project Why , but will also reach out to the community , something that was not feasible in an urban slum. Environment projects, rainwater harvesting, health related activities, imparting new skills, adult education, empowerment of women, civic responsibility are some of the projects we intend launch.
Our vision is of simple structure around a courtyard. Whitewashed walls, brightly painted doors and windows, mud murals, greenery will give a joyful feeling to the place. On the first floor we will run a guest house with 10 rooms offering two star comfort and decorated with local craft. These rooms will be for tourists transiting Delhi and who would like to spend a day or two with children before they set out to discover India. Goyla’s proximity to the airport makes it an ideal transit point. For those who wish to see Delhi, a short ride to the metro station will be provided at regular intervals.
The ground floor will house three sections. One will have a large kitchen and a living room where guests can lounge, read or just while away time playing with the children; one side will be reserved for children where two large rooms will be converted into dorms at night for the little souls that have dropped by Project Why and who have nowhere else to go to. During the day the same rooms will be used for a host of child related activities for the neighbourhood kids. The third side will house staff quarters (mostly single moms) and all other housekeeping activities. Building material will be eco -friendly and recycled, and we will try to use as much alternative sources of energy as possible: solar panels to heat water, bio gas and green fuel.
All open space will be filled with trees, shrubs and plants of all kinds. The building activity will involve friends from all over the world as well as the local community each one leaving their own special mark.
Tourism with a meaning seems to have come to stay as many friends and supporters have expressed their desire to spend some time with children and local people before setting out to discover the country. Hence our rooms seem almost booked in advance! After cutting the costs needed to run the place, we will be left with a sizable amount that will go on to fund educational and other activities based on the model we have already run and validated for the past 7 years setting us free of the fragile situation we often found ourselves in.
The little guest house will also be a training ground for our own students who can then accede to a wider range of employment. Planet Why will also be an ideal place for short term skill learning workshops and related activities.
We invite you to join the exciting journey we have already embarked on and would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Mar 27, 2007 | two indias
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 becomes the doom of the other.
India is all about macro and micro realities and in order to make substantial and meaningful change it becomes imperative to address both sides of the coin. What began 7 years ago as an honest effort to empower underprivileged communities to take charge of the education of their children, has met with a fair amount of success.
A viable model was mooted, and tested successfully as drop out rates were contained 100% and the model steered by local efforts. The only element that did not quite meet the set target was sustainability as till date we could not truly seed the one rupee a day programme.
This has led me to believe that maybe the way to see it seed is to actually withdraw much of the spoon feeding and slowly position ourselves as a consultant/advisory entity. Then it will be a do or die and once again if out of all the various elements that form pwhy one emerges a winner we will be satisfied. A little radical I know but nevertheless necessary.
That is the macro level.
But the past seven years has also brought the micro level into our lives be it children needing surgery, children having no future, single mothers at the fringe of giving up and children and young adults with disabilities facing a bleak future.
For these creatures of a Lesser God we need to find a larger solution particularly has we have witnessed the total lack of social and administrative support which is at best inhuman (orphanages, homes for the challenged etc)
So as we slowly hand over power in the first case, we need to create a viable option for the later. That is what brings us to Chapter II of our journey in the shape of what I would like to call simply Planet Why: a small home in a rural suburb where we we would try to give a new lease of life to these souls. Moreover this home would have three or more activities: a refuge, education and empowerment for the local community and specialised vocational training.
As land cost is prohibitive, we are looking at a long lease option and have short listed two plots.
This brings me to the invariable question that is waiting to be asked: how will planet why sustain itself?
Here is my answer: we want to seed planet why in a village called Goyla, close to the airport and to Dwarka which is already on the metro line. With the imminent completion of several flyover/highway projects the place is ideal to create a guest house like the ninos hotel set up in cusco Peru entirely run by street children.
http://www.ninoshotel.com/
We are thinking of having one part of planet why as a guest house with about 6 rooms for those who do not want to transit Delhi but just have a take off point to their holiday destination. Goyla is close to the Jaipur and Agra highways. Many friends have promised us 100% occupancy.
Pwhy has taught me that nothing is impossible and no dream too large if it’s intent is honest and for the good of those no one cares for.
No matter how empowered the present community we work in gets there are always some that still need us on a long term basis: Abhishek and Rahul’s widowed mother who is constantly ill treated by her in-laws and made to live in a room that reminds us of the torture box of the Bridge of the River Kwai as she lives in a tin box on a fifth floor; Utpal’s mother who has to one day come out into the world again, Mansi and Himanshu who saw their mother hang and their father be shot in a vendetta like operation commandeered by their maternal grandparents, Babli who in spite of her open heart surgery seems to be of no interest to her family the father being too old and a gambler and a mother to busy working or seeking greener pastures, and many of our special kids who no one really wants and last but not the least Manu for whom pwhy began.
So we begin a new journey and hope you will once again be there for us..
