2016-10-18 12:30
Don’t go by the picture! These kids are the luckiest as they live on the bank of the river in the middle of green vegetable patches and breathe good clean air, or at least the best av… Read More
Blog Directory > Life Blogs > Observations Blogs > Project Why observations Blog >
2016-10-11 12:30
Two weeks ago, two class XII students murdered their teacher. The reason: he expelled one of them for poor attendance. Rage, anger, frustration? Nothing can condone violence of this kind and… Read More
All Television Is Educational Television. The Question Is: What Is It Teaching? #GivingTuesday#India
2016-10-04 12:30
All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching? wrote Nicholas Johnson.
Television is the most ubiquitous object as it breaks all social barriers and finds it… Read More
2016-09-27 12:30
You may be wondering why the illustration for this post is an ultrasound plate. The reason is that there exists no picture of the child whose story we tell.
Little Sonny was born a month or… Read More
2016-09-20 12:30
A recent UNESCO report states that India could be late by half a century in achieving its global education commitments. It would need to make fundamental changes in the education policy if… Read More
2016-09-15 12:30
India has the largest number of stunted children in the world reveals a recent study. For Project Why that is one too many! The main reasons are: lack of toilets, dirty water and poor… Read More
2016-09-06 12:30
When a friend offered to run a healing workshop for Project Why staff so that they in turn could share it with the children we were a little hesitant. The reason being the multitude of fait… Read More
2016-08-30 05:40
A young girl was victim of the ubiquitous hit and run syndrome that is a familiar occurrence in cities. Most get reported. Some make front page if a ‘celebrity’ or ‘privil… Read More
2016-08-23 12:30
Government to enlist gurus for organ donation campaign is a recent headline. The article goes on to say: “The health ministry plans to rope in spiritual gurus to help dispel myths abo… Read More
2016-08-16 12:30
Project Why children celebrated Independence Day! There was the flag hoisting in all centres, the regulatory speeches, the patriotic songs and of course a lot of Bollywood dancing. The ch… Read More
2016-08-09 12:30
The rains have created havoc in the city for the past days and yet nothing unpredictable as it is monsoon time and a good monsoon is what everyone hopes for. Vladimir Nabokov said: &ldquo……Read More
2016-08-02 12:30
The Upper House of the India Parliament passed a Bill to Amend the Child Labour Act 1986. The amendment prohibits the engagement of children below the age of 14 in all occupations and… Read More
2016-07-26 12:38
KajalKid Speak is cute. There have been TV shows like “Kids Say the Darndest Things’” or books like “Children’s Letters to God” that always delight us an… Read More
2016-07-19 13:00
This week’s blog has to be written in first person as it symbolises the very spirit of Project Why. For the past weeks as we set out to ‘makeover’ Project Why to m… Read More
2016-07-12 11:14
Statistics show that over 8000 children get raped in India every year. Wonder how many get sexually abused and yet the state is unwilling to include sex education in schools. Perhaps it is… Read More
2016-07-05 06:29
I fist heard of Sindhutai many years ago when I was researching ‘good news’ stories for a friend. Her story was a true inspiration more so when I felt reluctant to &lsquo… Read More
2016-07-05 00:27
Clarisse and Xavier have not ‘adopted’ legally but are nevertheless his French ‘parents’, and do everything a ‘parent’ would : loving him unconditionally… Read More
2016-06-28 18:00
She was barely 5 when she first joined the special section. It must have been in 2004. She could barely walk or talk. She was like a tiny frightened bird that needed to be tamed. As days wen… Read More
2016-06-21 13:00
‘The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something‘ wrote Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Wise words indeed. Words that remind us of forgotten intentions a… Read More
2016-06-14 13:00
The new education policy is in the anvil. The recommendations of the committee set up to look into the issue are ready. Two of the recommendations are close to our hearts. The first is to… Read More
2016-06-07 13:00
Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime. Scars heal but the pain never goes away. And yet child abuse is on the rise. Recent studies show that there has been a 50% rise in t… Read More
2016-06-02 12:30
Today we would like to walk down memory lane and talk of all the visitors we have had over the years. In most cases they return more than once. That is the magic of Project Why: once you wal… Read More
2016-05-31 12:30
Secondary Class at KhaderThe Numbers Perspective! Sounds like a title of a Robert Ludlum thriller doesn't it? Come to think of it is is a thriller in its own right: the numbers referred to a… Read More
2016-05-29 01:15
The dentist comes callingIt was dental checkup time for children from the special section, the creche and the primary section. This was the first dental check up at Project Why and was made… Read More
2016-05-26 12:30
Project Why's relationship with Germany began way back in 2007 when Hans Emde, a rather forbidding person with a heart of gold, visited Project Why and decided to set up Project Why Deutschl… Read More
2016-05-24 12:30
Secondary Class at Project WhyThe Numbers Perspective! Sounds like a title of a Robert Ludlum thriller doesn't it? Come to think of it is is a thriller in its own right: the numbers referred… Read More
2016-05-24 12:30
He who opens a school door, closes a prison.Victor HugoThe little beds in this picture take us back to a childhood fairy tale where a little girl 'dared' to sleep on a bed only to be c… Read More
2016-05-21 12:30
Her name is Kashmira. She lives in the US and though she has never visited Project Why in person, she had been one of its staunchest supporters. She has walked into Project Why's heart throu… Read More
2016-05-19 12:30
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” Helen Keller How true these words are and Project Why is a proof of this. It was in very early days that Anou decided… Read More
2016-05-17 12:30
It has been International Month at Project Why. First we had visitors from France, then from Japan and now hold your breath… from Lebanon! A group of twenty young girls fr… Read More
2016-05-12 12:30
The Project Why Yamuna Centre is one year old! A simple look at the smiling faces in the picture is ample proof of the fact that we got it right. Only a little over a year ago Project W… Read More
2016-05-10 12:30
Yoshiki San and DoraemonProject Why has a Japanese connection. It goes back to 2003 when Naoko San visited the Project why with the Japanese Volunteer Group. A connection was mad… Read More
2016-05-05 12:30
There's no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were wrote Dwight D. Eisenhower.One of the most difficult moments we have had to face at Project W… Read More
2016-05-03 12:30
It was French Week at Project Why. A group of members of Enfances Indiennes, visited Project Why and gave its children a French Break!Project Why's French Connection is strong and stea… Read More
2016-05-03 12:12
Six years ago, I gathered the courage to write a requiem for a dream. The dream was Planet Why the guest house with a difference that would have allowed Project Why to be sustainable. In a n… Read More
2016-04-30 14:30
Project Why has taught me two values often forgotten: compassion and gratitude. If one is the art of giving, the other is that of receiving. When we talk of giving, our minds tend to veer to… Read More
2016-04-28 12:30
If we exist then He exists; if we do not then how can He!(on the existence God)Tau Head of the Rana Pratap Lohar Camp“Have you ever met someone for the first time, but in your heart yo… Read More
2016-04-26 12:30
waiting for waterThis picture was taken near the Project Why Okhla Centre at the time when the tanker delivers water for an entire community. This is when children dash out of class to reach… Read More
2016-04-21 12:30
The Project Why Women and Children Centre saw the light of day to answer yet another deafening why. It was 2006 and we had two women in a desperate state who needed help. One woman was… Read More
2016-04-19 12:30
Recently some of our secondary Govindpuri children informed us that they may have to stop coming. Why?These were some of the brightest of the lot who attend government school. The reason the… Read More
2016-04-14 12:30
A toddler tied up to a charpoy with a scarf: a sign of love and also one of desperation. This image was one of the first resounding WHYs Project Why encountered and we responded by creating… Read More
2016-04-12 12:30
Why is Project Why even necessary?Sadly, this is a question we often get. There are many reasons, but the main reason is to provide shadow education to underprivileged children, an edu… Read More
2016-04-07 12:30
This is Project Why's special class as it is today. And here is how it looked in earlier times.To be disabled in India is a misfortune but to be disabled and poor in India is a tragedy. If y… Read More
2016-04-05 12:30
(All pictures in this post were taken by project why children during a workshop on Respect under the section Respect for Water!)Did you know that 5,000 children die everyday from water relat… Read More
2016-03-31 12:30
Someone said: "a picture is worth a thousand words, but a memory is priceless.You don’t just take a picture with a camera, you take it with your heart".The story of the Project Why Okh… Read More
2016-03-29 12:30
Spare Grace, Lemongrace, Red Cabies and Badycon were the words proudly displayed by the local vegetable shop now catering to the growing expat clientele. To the uninitiated this transl… Read More
2016-03-25 12:30
Sometimes you do not have to look far to find things to celebrate. You simply have to look with your heart. I sometimes kick myself for not taking time to simply stop and savour things aroun… Read More
2016-03-22 12:30
Child labour is an aberration. This goes without saying, yet child labour is everywhere. Child labour is cheap. Laws have been enacted time and again but remain poorly unimplemented. O… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
mama and me 1954 PekingIn just a week Delhi will vote. As a responsible citizen I will cast my vote. In the recent assembly elections I was elated to know that we had a new option that seeme… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
From the instant I found the strength to look deep into Manu's eyes and made him part of my morrows, I took the irrevocable decision of making the dreams of others mine. From that momen… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
A few months ago, when a new party that promised to clean up our political system arrived upon, it sounded like a breath of fresh air. Sadly the air has become stale faster than one would ha… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
About a decade ago two beautiful children were born at about the same time, one somewhere in India and the other somewhere in the United States. One was a little boy and the other a little g… Read More
2016-03-18 12:30
There is so much to celebrate at Project Why each and every day, but this week was a very special celebration: Utpal's 14th! To the uninitiated it would have looked like any birthday with ca… Read More
2016-03-15 03:25
The project Why WomenProject Why is primarily a children's organization yet right from the beginning, we instinctively reached out to women, the true game changers. No wonder then that it wa… Read More
2016-03-11 12:30
I am thankful to Damyanti for having introduced me to Lexa's blog Celebrate the Small Things. For the past sixteen years I have been 'celebrating' the small and big joys of life… Read More
2016-03-08 12:30
I came across this bunch of happy kids right in front of our Okhla centre at Project Why. They were shy at first, but then it took no time for them to smile and perform for the camera. They… Read More
2016-03-01 12:30
Is it possible for a child from the slums to shine at an exclusive boarding school?It sounds like a rude question, but wait till you’ve heard about the Project Why Power Girls.Meet Meh… Read More
2016-02-23 12:30
We all want to be happy; the question is whether or not we achieve this goal. In a recent post Damyanti Biswas, an Indian writer based in Singapore and friend of Project Why, shares how a bu… Read More
2016-02-16 12:30
Anna Ma'am and her boarding school stars: from left to rightManisha, Aditya, Vicky, Utpal and Yashstanding: Babli and Nikhil The quota debate is back. A statutory government panel has a… Read More
2016-02-09 12:30
Recently, Project Why received a donation from a school in broken cartons and torn plastic bags.We received books with pages missing, copybooks with not a single blank page, and unwearable c… Read More
2016-02-02 12:30
The past days have seen many Indian dreams smothered before time.Three young girls ended their lives by jumping in a well. A young Dalit scholar ended his life in the hop… Read More
2016-01-26 14:00
In the biting cold of the city is is funeral pyres that have come to the rescue of the homeless in the city. A heart wrenching news item aired today showed how many homeless persons huddled… Read More
2016-01-19 14:00
The new education policy(NEP) is on the anvil. A fancy website invites citizens to participate in its formulation. Consultations and meetings are being held from village to State level… Read More
2016-01-18 05:02
Light up a Child's Smile is a new campaign launched by the Mamagoto restaurants across India. This wonderful venture is the result of serendipitous synchronicity. Yesterday when I rece… Read More
2016-01-06 05:18
I recently read the review of a children's book titled The Avrah Stories by Abu Abraham. What caught my eye and I guess my heart was the closing line of the review: and he teaches his l… Read More
2016-01-06 03:32
“Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives.Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness.Help them instead to find the wonder and t… Read More
2015-12-30 05:41
2015 will go down in the annals of Project Why as a challenging yet comforting year. All ran perfectly on stage! Backstage it was a year of wake up calls and critical quests but also of new… Read More
2015-12-25 05:32
It has been a long time since I wrote this time not for want of thoughts to be shared but rather because of an onslaught of emotions that needed to be processed to make any sense at all. All… Read More
2015-11-14 07:35
I am still stunned! It has been almost six hours since a phone call from my daughter informed me of the terrorist attacks on Paris. I am still trying to make sense of it all. Perhaps writing… Read More
2015-11-09 10:31
It is Diwali time. A time to rejoice and be merry. It is also that moment in the year when Hindus pray Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth beseeching her to grace their homes. This is a ritual ta… Read More
2015-11-02 05:26
Henry Brooks Adams wrote: "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops". This is something we seem to have forgotten. Yet this is so true!I understand the th… Read More
2015-10-21 05:23
'Don't lose faith in India' were the dying words of my father when he breathed his last almost a quarter century ago. He was 80+. He was the descendant of an indentured labourer who had left… Read More
2015-10-19 05:09
The horrific rape of two toddlers, one age 4 and the other a tiny 2 has once again brought to the fore the disturbing issue of child abuse. I do not know how many posts I have written about… Read More
2015-10-14 06:54
A four year was most brutally raped and left to die a few kilometres from where I sit to write this post. I need to be graphic today in the hope that the horrific details may awaken our benu… Read More
2015-09-18 04:27
The struggle ends when the gratitude begins wrote Neale Donald Walsch. We tend to forget this indubitable truth. Come one even I whose email signature bye line is: I am busy being grate… Read More
2015-09-06 04:50
I have borrowed the title of this blog from Harsh Mander's hard hitting book: Looking Away. The author himself summarises his book with the following words: it is about the need for people t… Read More
2015-09-03 03:25
For the past 10 days we have been flooded with the twist and turns of a high society crime , twists and turns which would beat the imagination the most prolific crime writer. And it is… Read More
2015-08-25 05:25
As you know I have had the expected meltdown that I had been dreading for quite some time but I must admit I was on such a adrenalin high, that I did not expect it to happen to me. Come on a… Read More
2015-08-02 11:11
You might wonder why I'm sending you a photograph of a tin is how the email from a very loved friend and die hard supporter began and then she added: it's much more than that! As I read on t… Read More
2015-08-01 06:31
A few days back a young friend was sharing his dilemma about shifting homes. He lives in one of the what is known as 'posh' colonies of South Delhi and has a floor in one of the stand alone… Read More
2015-07-24 03:52
Kids speak out on religion is a video everyone must see with their heart and imbibe in case one still has an inner child. Kids of all hues were asked a series of questions like what is relig… Read More
2015-07-21 04:33
Doing the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans wrote George MacDonald, and many a times I find myself doing just so. It has been some time now since I have shred my hu… Read More
2015-07-13 10:33
She is 48. She hails from Bihar, a state that sadly connotes poverty and true to that conception she belongs to an extremely poor family. Her husband is a poor Brahmin who survived by being… Read More
2015-07-08 10:53
He has four degrees but works as a garbage collector screamed the headline of a news item. This is the story of a man born on the wrong side of the fence who thought that education could fre… Read More
2015-06-15 10:16
I do not know at what age I had my first party, the one where you incited boys too! Though I am a child of the sixties and a rebellious one for that, my rather older and a tad traditio… Read More
2015-06-13 05:58
Look at these kids. They are kids just like yours and mine born in the same country, protected by the same Constitution and having the same rights. But that is all on paper. These kids have… Read More
Subscribe to Project Why
Get updates delivered right to your inbox!