For the past two decades I’ve been busy, being grateful.
Ever since the day I met Manu and was shaken out of the torpor I had allowed myself to sink in after my parents’ demise, I was blessed with abundant miracles that I could not have imagined existed. The biggest one was Project Why. It set me on a journey that was replete with wondrous occurrences, leaving me speechless and filled me with gratitude. Words like Miracles and Angels became commonplace. True, there were a few setbacks along the way but these paled in the wake of the blessings and bounty that came my way.
When I decided to give Manu a ‘home’ I had absolutely no idea of how that would pan out. But a miracle was being conjured. I use to buy shoes from a shop in a nearby market and had befriended the lady who owned the shop. I would stop by for a cup of coffee or a cool drink and chat with her. I shared my predicament with her en passant, more as a conversation piece than a plea for help and fell off my chair when she asked me to look for space that she was willing to buy for us. That a little mud jhuggi on the very street Manu roamed was for sale was another miracle. We had our first ‘centre’ and there was no looking back. The shoe lady and Manu had laid the foundations of Project Why.
I always wondered if this is what Angels looked like. I lost touch with the shoe lady as her shop soon closed but she remains in my prayers each and every day. As for Manu, his spirit is what gives me the strength to carry on.
Miracles and Angels have abounded in Project Why. It would take volumes to write about each one of them and many lives to express the extend of my gratitude . Many of you know Utpal the little fellow who landed in my arms via a boiling wok and became my master in unconditional love.
There are all my special needs children who are my never-fail feel-good shot. My amazing team who gave wings to all my dreams, even the most outrageous ones and all the wonderful people who have reached out and given us love and support to make Project Why a reality. What is extraordinary is that many of them have not even seen us and yet they believed in us and gave with abandon. What would you call them but Angels? True they do not have wings but have something more precious: the ability to see with their heart. I am deeply grateful to each one of them.
Last week saw yet more miracles.
The first one was the success of our fundraiser where 155 souls came forward to help us save our Okhla centre. It was truly overwhelming and humbling. My heartfelt gratitude to each one of them and to Damyanti Biswas who has never stopped believing in us.
The second one was a picture sent by one of the teachers that showed the results of the end of year exams.
Many of our kids have once again secured top positions in their schools. This has been happening every year and has been the validation of all that we believed in and stood for. With a little help from our Angels and lots of love, these children can move mountains.
So here I am, busy being grateful! If you’re ever in Delhi, please visit us for a chat and a cup of tea. We love visitors, and teachers and children at our centres are friendly and enthusiastic hosts.
Follow us along onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram and we will follow you back. Let us take a few steps together on this journey of education and empowerment.
I learnt about the importance of education at my mother’s knee as she shared with me her passion for learning. That small town girl born in times where women were not educated and married in their teens had such an incredible and almost illogical love for education that she left no stone unturned to fulfil her desire to learn. From hunger strikes to mellow her Gandhian father to accepting every condition thrown her way, she never faltered and went on to acquire every degree in sight. It is education that allowed Kamala to break all barriers and and the freedom fighter’s daughter would go on to become a- Ambassador’s lifelong partner .
I realise today that with every story she shared she was imbuing me with her love for learning and crafting the person I would become as well as paving the road I would walk on. I often tend to forget how much I owe her and how much she has influenced the way Project Why has gone. It is her never-say-die attitude in the face of adversity that propelled me to never give up even if the challenges were daunting. I knew there was always a way, you just had to find it or simply create it.
That is how over the past two decades now, Project Why has overcome every challenge no matter how insurmountable it may have seemed. When Sophiya told us about the plight of the Okhla children I knew that a way had to be found and education had to be brought to these kids even if the only space was a garbage dump. Today I am reminded of St Exupery’s word when he said: “A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebodycontemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.” That is how one felt when one first saw the Okhla garbage dump. We all saw a school teeming with happy children learning and laughing and that is what the Okhla centre is today!
I now see the spirit of Kamala in all the incredible women who impart their love for education to the Project Why children. I see her in Pushpa, in Sophiya, in every one who has been part of this journey. I see her spirit in all the young girls who come and learn at Project Why. I see the same hunger in their eyes and I know that they are on their way to fulfilling their dreams.
Today, when our Okhla Centre is in danger of being closed, it is her spirit that once again propels me to do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen and I know that she is watching us and conjuring the miracle we need.
Kamala’s love for education was unconditional. My fight for saving Okhla has to be unconditional too!
It is Valentine Week, a week when one celebrates love and honours it. This year would you consider honouring the one you love by helping us save our Okhla school?
If you’re a fellow blogger, please consider joining the Valentine’s Day Blogathon. Write one or more posts to talk about love, any kind of love at all, and about honouring the ones you love.
All we ask is at the end of your post, you mention the fundraiser, link to it, and add the graphic above. We will start off a linky list where you can add all your posts.
You can support the #HelpMithuSaveSchool fundraiser to save the Okhla school HERE.
If you’re not a blogger, send in a small amount to support the fundraiser, and share it on social media so others can do the same. Every bit adds up. Let us celebrate this Valentine’s day with an unconditional love for education.
There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. – Walt Streightiff
For We are the World Blogfest I want to share the story of the education of a bunch of children who took it upon themselves to change their futures.
I came to know of this Blogfest through my dearest friend Damyanti and warmed up to the idea immediately as we need stories to renew our faith in humanity.
At times, we lose the ability to revel in the joy of happy occurrences around us. We’re simply too busy living our daily life. I would like to share the story of a bunch of children who motivated us to set up the most dynamic and endearing centre of Project Why: the Okhla Centre.
It was way back in 2004 that we were told about the plight of a children living in the Okhla Industrial area, in tiny tenements tucked in between factories, close to the railway tracks. Most did not go to school as there were no schools in the vicinity and their parents were too busy eking out a living. They roamed around the area and were often targeted by mafias who would use them to steal from the goods trains or push drugs.
Our best effort to find a suitable place to begin a centre met with scant success. But we were determined to reach out and provide education to these children who were eager to have us come to them. Finally we found a garbage dump that we reclaimed and set up our centre with 4 bamboo sticks and one bright blue plastic sheet. Two extraordinary women: Sophia and Pushpa took on the challenge of ensuring the centre ran no matter what. It was the eagerness of the children that propelled us not to give in.
Slowly more and more children would appear from nowhere and want to join the centre. We knew that there was no going back as Project Why became one of the wonders in the eyes of many children. The centre continued to thrive day by day and grow in leaps and bounds. From a flimsy structure that was pulled down ever week by our detractors and set up every time by our brave ladies, the centre acquired brick walls and we had over 100 children studying from class I to V. New teachers joined the initial duo and it was soon a well settled centre providing primary education. We thought it would remain so but when the year came to an end, the class V children insisted we open a class VI. We had no option but to do so. It was their school as they had taken ownership and we had to follow.
Today the Okhla centre has a class XII!
But kids dream, and they dream big. They wanted a computer centre as no centre existed in the area. God listens to children. Thanks to the kindness ofKabir Suri of Azure Hospitality, we were able to build a proper roof, shift secondary classed on the terrace and open a computer centre for the children.
Today the centre welcomes over 300 children who are taught by a dedicated band of 12 teachers.
True, the school is in a garbage dump and the surroundings are far from pretty, but walk into the door and you reach the happiest place you can imagine. A visit to the Okhla centre always lifts my spirits up. A sure feel-good shot! If not for these incredible children, this centre for education would not have happened.
At every step the God of lesser beings ensured that someone came by and helped us fulfill the wishes and dream of these children. Our gratitude to all of the donors.
Today we are praying for another miracle. The Okhla centre funding is coming to an end in march 2019.
If we are not able to come up with a solution, the centre is in danger of closing. We are looking at various initiatives to bridge the gap but above all at long term sustainability to ensure that these wonderful children continue to have their happy place. It is they who wanted it and they who deserve it. We will simply follow.
Do you believe all children have a right to education and see their dreams come true? Can education liberate children from the vicious cycle of poverty? If you ever stop by in Delhi, or if you live here, would you like to visit the Project WHY Okhla centre? Will you support our funding efforts for this centre?
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Please consider collaborating with us! We welcome visitors, volunteers and anyone who can give us advice on how to improve our practices and processes. Check out our Facebook page for information on the events that are held at Project Why.
You can also support Project Why through a small donation. Even a small amount helps us support a child’s education.
Education can make a quantum difference in a person’s life.
For We are the World Blogfest I want to share the story of a boy who used his education to go from the streets of New Delhi to top Parisian ramps.
I came to know of this Blogfest through my dearest friend Damyanti and warmed up to the idea immediately as we need stories to renew our faith in humanity. At times, we lose the ability to revel in the joy of happy occurrences around us. We’re simply too busy living our daily life. I would like to share the story of a young man born on the roadside who went on to become a star and broke many stereotypes we are often locked in.
A series of serendipitous events brought Sanjay into my life again and I realised how much this strapping, drop-dead gorgeous young man had actually taught me.
We go back a long time Sanjay and I. It must have been in 2004 that we opened a small centre for the children of the Lohar Basti, a community of gypsy ironsmiths that lived on the pavement of a busy main road, a stone’s throw from Project Why’s centre.They unfortunately got relocated in 2010.
I had been moved by the spirit and infectious joie de vivre of this nomadic community and by the bright-eyed kids that ran with alacrity on the busy road, making my heart miss many beats. A few weeks after we began classes for the smaller children, we were approached by a handful of teenagers who wanted us to teach them too. Some were in school, other had dropped out but all seemed very eager to learn. (I would come to know much later that the reason these lads joined was the presence of young foreign volunteers!). We accepted the request and soon had a group of secondary students as part of this outreach programme. Sanjay was one of them. He would go on to pass his class XII Boards.
The awkward teenager grew into a handsome lad, and I would joke with him telling him he should become a model and we would then raise a lot of money for Project Why. Little did I know that the winds have ears and that a miracle was on its way.
Sanjay joined Project Why as a teacher and taught in our Okhla centre for some years. He was loved by all students and it looked that he had settled in. But the heavens had other plans for him. A French film maker in search of a positive story decided to document Sanjay’s life and in the course of many a conversation Sanjay revealed his dream to go to Bollywood. He would not make it to the silver screen but would break into the fashion world and even walk the ramp in Paris! Bollywood Boulevard is the film documenting his story.
When I look back at years gone by and at what is ‘our story’, I realise he taught me that dreams do come true, but wisdom lies in always keeping one’s feet firmly planted on the ground.
Sanjay did not let success go to his head. He did fulfill his dreams but is now back in India working in a guest house and hoping one day to find his place behind a camera to tell the story of another dream.
Do you have a dream? Does Sanjay’s story resonate with you? Sanjay wants to study under a documentary or fashion photographer. Would you be able to put him in touch with a photographer who needs an assistant?
If you’d like to receive posts from Project Why, please subscribe via email on the sidebar. To keep in touch with all the events big and small, like the Project WHY page on Facebook.
And if journeys like that of Sanjay interest you, please consider supporting the Project WHY Sewing Circle Fundraiser, where we’re trying to keep the dreams of a few brave women alive.
Ever since the day I met Manu and was shaken out of the torpor I had allowed myself to sink in after my parents’ demise, I was blessed with abundant miracles that I could not have imagined existed. The biggest one was Project Why. It set me on a journey that was replete with wondrous occurrences, leaving me speechless and filled me with gratitude. Words like Miracles and Angels became commonplace. True, there were a few setbacks along the way but these paled in the wake of the blessings and bounty that came my way.
Miracles and Angels have abounded in Project Why. It would take volumes to write about each one of them and many lives to express the extend of my gratitude . Many of you know Utpal the little fellow who landed in my arms via a boiling wok and became my master in unconditional love.
There are all my special needs children who are my never-fail feel-good shot. My amazing team who gave wings to all my dreams, even the most outrageous ones and all the wonderful people who have reached out and given us love and support to make Project Why a reality. What is extraordinary is that many of them have not even seen us and yet they believed in us and gave with abandon. What would you call them but Angels? True they do not have wings but have something more precious: the ability to see with their heart. I am deeply grateful to each one of them.
The first one was the success of our fundraiser where 155 souls came forward to help us save our Okhla centre. It was truly overwhelming and humbling. My heartfelt gratitude to each one of them and to Damyanti Biswas who has never stopped believing in us.
Many of our kids have once again secured top positions in their schools. This has been happening every year and has been the validation of all that we believed in and stood for. With a little help from our Angels and lots of love, these children can move mountains.
There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. – Walt Streightiff
Education can make a quantum difference in a person’s life.
I had been moved by the spirit and infectious joie de vivre of this nomadic community and by the bright-eyed kids that ran with alacrity on the busy road, making my heart miss many beats. A few weeks after we began classes for the smaller children, we were approached by a handful of teenagers who wanted us to teach them too. Some were in school, other had dropped out but all seemed very eager to learn. (I would come to know much later that the reason these lads joined was the presence of young foreign volunteers!). We accepted the request and soon had a group of secondary students as part of this outreach programme. Sanjay was one of them. He would go on to pass his class XII Boards.