The hunger games

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/24/2013 6:46:00 AM

'A mother of five watched two of her children die of hunger! I wonder if you can even begin to imagine the pain and total helplessness of this woman. We are of those who run after our kids with plates of food, willing to conjure anything alternatives treats should our brat refuse the fare of the day. We are of those who move heaven and earth should our child get a minor scratch. We are of those who have never experienced hunger pangs or seen our child hungry. So how can we even begin(...)'

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A letter to those who gave me the gift of life

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/23/2013 7:01:00 AM

'Dear Mama and Tatu,Today would have been your 64th wedding anniversary. I do not know why after so many years I feel like writing to you. It has been more than 2 decades since you left me and there has not been a day when I have not missed you. It is strange how we miss those we loved more after they leave us. I guess as long as you were there one just lived by the day and never saw things in a larger perspective.When I was a child Tatu you were the one who always stood in the way o(...)'

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My all new stress buster

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/22/2013 10:29:00 AM

'For the past months I have been terribly stressed. The reasons are many, some personal and some professional. This cocktail has been a heady one and needs immediate first aid. The normal remedies do not work for me for several reasons. I find it hard to meditate though a friend recently told me a form of meditation called gibberish meditation that seems compatible with my personality. It is called gibberish meditation and goes from singing la la la to the sky to talking nonsense non(...)'

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Not proud of what I saw in the mirror today

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/21/2013 4:14:00 AM

'When I started Pwhy I did not know that my life would change surreptitiously in more ways than one. Till then I had been a rather private person. Perhaps this was because I had grown up as an only and lonely child with no moorings as mine was a nomadic life courtesy my father's profession. Like all only children I had my set of imaginary friends, talked to myself and dealt with my good and bad moments alone. My adult years also were somewhat solitary. Friends and colleagues remained(...)'

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a will and a trust

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/17/2013 9:59:00 AM

'Life has its own uncanny way of calling to to order, particularly when you have sunk in a comfort zone and feel that everything is on course. Those are times that you feel your master of you destiny. You even become hubristic! You believe, however erroneously that nothing can get you down as you can take up every challenge thrown your way. For the past months I have been dealing with the health issues of a dear one and until yesterday thought that I would be able to find the right s(...)'

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No comments

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/15/2013 10:03:00 AM

'I start blogging in April 2005. That makes it 8 years and almost 1500 blogs. It all started like this. It must have been circa 2003 when I realised that the proverbial 'pockets' I easily dug into whenever    extra funds were needed were emptying at the speed of light or even faster. All the people one knew had been tapped and thus it was time to seek new pastures. At that time I was slowly discovering the magical word of the world wide web and it must have been around then(...)'

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We still are very raw in doing stuff!

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/14/2013 10:31:00 AM

'It is not always easy to pass on the mantle and yet that is what I have been trying to do for some time. The reasons are many: creaking bons and dwindling eyesight reminding one that age is catching on; the one woman show syndrome which may look attractive and inspiring but makes the entire structure rather shaky and fragile, and above all the seemingly forgotten mission that set the ball rolling: empowering people to keep the show on the road. I have been making myself as scarce as(...)'

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The storyteller

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/14/2013 3:37:00 AM

'Story telling has been part of the lore of probably every civilisation that has existed in this world. Be it fairy tales, mythological narratives, myths or just stories, this tradition played a major role in forming minds and instilling values. I had forgotten how much I owed to this wonderful art. I guess much of who I am today is due to the myriad of stories I heard and read from the time I was a toddler. Why am I talking of storytelling today you may wonder? As you may be knowing(...)'

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A letter to Kamala

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/12/2013 12:24:00 AM

'Dear MamaToday is Mother's day! I do not know why there has to be a Mother's day as for me every day is Mother's day. You may have left me 23 years ago but there has not been a single day I have not remembered you. You have been with me every moment from the time I last held you on that fateful June day. You gave me the gift of life, the most precious gift anyone can offer, but you also showed me how to live the life you gave me. From the time I was a little girl, you took me by the(...)'

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La spirale infernale

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/11/2013 4:22:00 AM

'Today's post is personal. Maybe it is because I am at this very instant faced with a challenge that requires me to take a decision I am weary of taking. I do not know if there is a translation for the french expression ' la spirale infernale'. The best would be a 'vicious circle' or maybe 'downward spiral'. I feel like I am at the edge of a precipice and need to make the decision to jump or not. I did start by saying that this post was personal but realise now that nothing in my lif(...)'

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You are the best girl in the world

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/8/2013 6:46:00 AM

'You are the best girl in the world said my little grandson when we connected on skype this morning. I guess for him it was simply because Nani gives in to every whim and fancy, buys all the cars and toys, allows extended TV time, bypasses mummy's diktats and gorges one with chocolates and ice cream! I guess that is what nani's are made for! But to me these eight words spoken my an innocent child were a much needed sign from the heaven's above as for the past months now I have been f(...)'

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Keep your bike in good repair

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/3/2013 11:49:00 PM

'Keep your bike in good repair: Motorcycle boots are NOT comfortable for walking. Wonder why I am starting this blog with a biker's quote? Patience and read on. A few months ago we got a mail from Vintage Rides, an organisation that invites you to discover India on Royal Enfield Bullets. They wanted to partner with us so that they could include a very special part of India in their itinerary: project why! We discussed many options: visits by their clients, wish lists for donations, b(...)'

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Because Indra went astray!

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/2/2013 5:15:00 AM

'I was surprised when I heard that young K was going to spend a few days at home. I am always delighted when she is with us as she is a ray of sunshine, but this is school and test time so what the hell was she doing! I obviously had to ask what was happening. That is when I first heard of a custom called Chaupadi, practised in Nepal. What I was witnessing was a revised and 'modernised' version of this abhorrent custom. The article gives an elaborate description of the horror. In sho(...)'

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the length of a lifetime

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 5/1/2013 5:11:00 AM

'Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime wrote Herbert Ward. Most of us do not understand this has we have never been abused. But this is the harsh reality, one I have witnessed myself. The medias have shifted gear. There seems to be a surplus of meaty stories. And with elections around the corner, the politicians will hog all the space. The horror of abuse of little girls cannot compete with scams, political quibbling and all kind of breaking news. Yet children cont(...)'

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The constant questioner

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 4/27/2013 11:27:00 AM

'An SMS this morning from my husband read: I believe you are in the papers today. Congrats! The husband is presently outside India and I wondered how this news had reached him? Some friend I guess. My first reaction was to send him an SMS back asking: good or bad? Good was the reply. I heaved a sigh of relief. It has been a long time since the media came a visiting! Wonder where this came from. A bit of sleuthing around and it transpired that a local tabloid run by a known media grou(...)'

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it is not in their interest to ensure everyone gets education

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 4/27/2013 6:54:00 AM

'It is disturbing that much of what I have often expressed over the past years on this blog is being stated by those one calls experts. How I wish I would have been wrong. In a recent article entitled: Has India lost the XXIst century an educationist writes: “It has not been in the interest of any government to ensure universalisation of education,  why would a government deny its people universal education? Because education gives you access to ideas, rights and opens doors of (...)'

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We need many more goons

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 4/24/2013 10:25:00 AM

'We need many more goons in this country! Don't get me wrong. I do not mean the goons we normally think of. Let me elucidate. The last few posts on this blog have been grim to say the least and filled with a sense of deep hopelessness. But they only reflected what is going on around us day after day after day. As I wrote these wretched accounts my heart yearned for something positive to brighten things and rekindle hope. My prayers seemed to have been heard when I stumbled upon an ar(...)'

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death penalty or not

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 4/24/2013 5:55:00 AM

'The debate for the death penalty for rapists rages on. It was disturbing to see on the latest TV debates that anyone who tended to disagree with the death penalty found her/himself shouted down. Nothing revolts me more than sexual child abuse and I would like to see all child abusers hung in public or subjected to the worst kind of torture like scaphism, and even that seems too kind! But when you take a little time and think many questions come to mind. Why do men abuse small childr(...)'

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Some thoughts....

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 4/22/2013 5:25:00 AM

'I spent a sleepless night early this week. Images of the little girl lying in a hospital after having been violated in the most bestial way possible kept flashing through my mind. She is just six months older than my own grandchild. I woke up feeling sick, ashamed and hopeless. Before turning off the lights I had watched the many 'talk shows' where hastily gathered 'specialists' were analysing and commenting upon the barbaric act aptly prompted by anchors. In one such programme, onl(...)'

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That's the 7 o'clock edition of the news. Good Night!

Author : anouradha bakshi      Blog : Project Why      Date : 4/22/2013 1:49:00 AM

'Do you remember a Simon and Garfunkel song calledSilent Night seven o' clock news Hearing the news today, I remembered this exceptional song that moved many of us when it was written way back in the sixties. We could write our own version. I wonder what song we would use, the choice is yours but the news in the voice over would read as:5 year old raped and mutilated in Delhi. After large protests by her family and others, a five-year-old who was kept hostage and raped, allegedl(...)'

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