“Where children dare to dream.”

Those were the words that came instinctively to my mind when I designed the first Project Why brochure. They have remained there ever since—unnoticed, perhaps, but somehow quietly guiding us in our work.

So when our friends from Japan decided to celebrate the Tanabata festival at Project Why, we were thrilled. Even though the celebration was somewhat delayed, it was an important step in our exchange programme with Japan.

Naoko and her formidable gang of lovely ladies arrived carrying huge bamboo stems. Every child wrote a wish on a small, colourful piece of paper, which was then tied to the bamboo.

I decided to give a set of wishes to the children in our special section. This is what they wrote:

Umesh, who can barely walk, wants to fly an aeroplane.

Preeti, who has never felt loved, wants to be a mother.

Soni, who is always in love, wants to dance with Salman Khan.

Anurag, living within the confines of autism, wants to drive a car.

Shalini, a girl with Down syndrome, wants to be a doctor.

Pinki, who has severe intellectual disabilities, wants to be a policewoman.

Ruchi, who suffers from a severe neurological condition, wants to be a teacher.

Manu—yes, our very own Manu—wants to be a monitor.

And Rajni simply wants to eat delicious food.

Read those dreams again.

They are a true reflection of the lonely lives these children lead. And yet, despite everything, they dream.

Yes, they have dreams.

The very children we sometimes feel uncomfortable with. The children who are cast aside by their own families. The children who may not receive proper food, let alone love.

They have dreams.

In the five years since Project Why began, this was the first time I felt that I had truly achieved something.

Yes. Project Why is a place where all children can dare to dream.