by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 4, 2005 | Uncategorized
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 of age in what i think is still the best article even written on why project WHY came to be. This article appeared in September 2003, and since we have gone a long way. At that time we were still groping in the dark, needing some kind of recognition that would make us visible and hence help us grow… but then everyone picked the words from the goodnewsindia.com article and somehow rewrote it, giving the impression that nothing was
truly happening..
yet the essence of project why is its ability to change and mutate, as its aim from the very first day was to empower people to take charge of their own lives…
project why was never about the poor little rich girl hoping to become a saint!
project why has always been about making a difference and one again we find ourselves at crossroads and know that will have to take on a new role… and I hope that when we do and succeed there will be someone who will report it honestly!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 1, 2005 | Uncategorized
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 for the past four years…
they would have done any one proud as they turned up at the exact time, dressed in lovely colours and all excited to be in their friend’s house…
as they sat with great poise and dignity no one would have believed that one was a dalit , the other a gypsy and the other a barber’s wife!
They ate blueberry cheesecake and drank their tea, and were delighted to visit Mylene’s home, without a twinge of envy as they looked at the kitchen, far bigger than the home of many of them..
And when it was time to leave, there were many moist eyes, and silent tears… and promised to meet again…
I watched with pride at the small miracles that project why seemed to throw my way… with obsessive regularity…
It takes so little to change people.. a little faith.. a little trust and lots of love…
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 28, 2005 | Uncategorized
One dream one soul one prize one goal
One golden glance of what should be
It’s a kind of magic
One shaft of light that shows the way
No mortal man can win this day
It’s a kind of magic
The bell that rings inside your mind
Is challenging the doors of time
wrote roger taylor for the rock group queen…
strange that these words came to my mind today… the day after having had to face some of the social ills that continue to plague our society: caste, women ruled by their husbands, narrow mindedness..
yet this morning when i saw the little project why inhabitants getting ready for their morning activities, i was once again touched by the magic of our little planet…
look at the little souls in the picture.. a happy lot they seem, intrigued at the presence of the big ma’am…
did you know that one is dalit, the other a muslim, the third a watermark brahman, and yet another a nepali; one is orphaned, the other illegitimate, another is a gypsy; some are very poor others own scooters, some live in airless shanties while the others in well cooled flats… would you be able to stick the correct label on the right forehead…
and yet they as the song says, they are the shaft of life we seek but do not recognise… soon they will be taught the ugly and divisive side of life, but today they are touched by the magic… the magic of planet why..
shhhh.. do not disturb them… it’s a kind of magic
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 23, 2005 | Uncategorized
stay hungry, stay foolish
Again, 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. Steve Job
Today I had to put my 7 year old dog, Cleo , to sleep. Cleo has been sick since the time she was born. She was a bull mastiff ; but Cleo was also the result of human greed whereby one forgets that nature has laws that should not be broken: Cleo was the result of extreme in breeding. She came to us one night and one look at her was enough to realise that nothing was right: from her distorted legs, to her tongue that was too long: but she was beautiful and we all fell in love with her huge melting brown eyes.
she lived a brave valiant life in spite of her kidneys having failed.. at the end she could barely stand and was in pain.. and today I put her out of her misery… all could say to her as I held her was ‘sorry’..
I was far more disturbed than I thought I would be and shared my pain with a dear friend who sent me a mail with the text of steve job’s speech delivered recently to a group of students. The words somehow dealt with all the questions that were crowding my mind…
You can read the speech here.
many times, when things are not quite the way you want them to be, you wonder why and it is only much later that the dots get connected into often a perfect picture..
Steve goes on to say:
You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.
And thinking back I am blessed as I have found what I love in project why and the rewards I get every day of my life.
I just had not realised it ..
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 22, 2005 | Uncategorized
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 sarmishta one day as she browsed the net and maybe saw one of the little souls that inhabit or planet..
she decided to help them fulfill their dreams of a better tomorrow.. by pledging part of therevenue from the sales of her maiden film.
but that simple generous gesture sarmishta did much more.. she created bonds between people who would have never known each other and made the world that much smaller..
today we are overwhelmed and humbled
bless you all
french fries and curry
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jun 21, 2005 | Uncategorized
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 many reasons..
the first is maybe because i simply love this young spirited woman.. but more than that because from the time i set eyes on her exactly five years ago to the day… she has never let me down.. from accepting to work without salary as a health and nutrition volunteer, to taking on small responsibilities to becoming my right arm and steering the day-to-day activities of project why..
rani was a shy withdrawn girl, who had dropped out of class IX as she had been severely beaten for not having brought her fees in time, and her mom had decided to stop her schooling..
well this year she decided to sit for her Xth Boards, did not even take a day of leave to study – god knows when she did – and came beaming yesterday with her results..
rani today steers a project which has 400 kids, a staff of 40 many of whom i have seen her grow..
but what makes this woman special is that she takes on any challenge with a smile and a determination no one can compete with… somehow she vindicates project why’s stand of empowering people..
