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anuMaam's

with projectWHY i acquired a new identity and became anuMaam. above all anuMaam has to be strong, and smiling, and have all the answers no matter what the problem. but sometimes there have been doubts, anguish and sadness, and at other times elation, joy and a sense of achievement. in the following pages i share what goes in anuMaam's mind

neck in sight!

15 february 2005

i had written about the 'battle' I have been waging against what seemed till recently a Hydra headed monster with no neck in view.
well the past week has been quite enlightening as many of the pieces of a, till date incomprehensible, puzzle, started falling in place.
I would like to share this, not for s personal gratification, but because it symptomatic of much around us.

When I began my work about 4 years ago in this tiny forsaken slum, there were no NGOs, no community centres, practically nothing.
It was a tiny street where jhuggis had come up haphazardly wherever a little bit of land stood, and was replete with illegal electrical connections, drunken brawls, abusive children, screaming adults, screeching women, filth and blocked drains...
not a pretty sight indeed!
Today it boasts of two community centres barely 500 meters away from each other, which house two private NGOs that do not do any work for the said community... one beautifully redone huge community centre (the forsaken labour court) in delhi government bhagidari with a sign board that sums all the UN funding heads starting with AIDS and ending with traditional crafts revival ( you can guess the others), guarded by a lonely bored security guard, a skating rink that no one has ever used...
The erstwhile abusive children now greet you politely as they rush to their next pwhy class, looking for the new location of a now almost itinerant project, there are no more screaming toddlers on the street, and though you may still find little groups of gossiping men, most of the women are out at work. most of them are connected to pwhy!

What changed in these 4 years..

a neck in sight (cont)

a disturbing little project that seemed innocuous at the beginning as almost everyone thought that it would not last, and wind up as soon as its purpose was fulfilled.

when they realised that it was not to be, as one local after the other was getting employment, as suddenly children were passing their school examinations, as makeshift classrooms that necessitated very little resources multiplied at incredible speed, as community members of different caste and creed began interacting socially they knew that were a danger to their existence. And when one of pwhy staff members exercised her 'constitutional right not to vote', they knew it was time to hit.
and hit they did!

To cut a long story short the strategy was multiple:
it began with testing:when we were rudely asked to leave a park where we were holding a class by a delegation od people, and then when I pleaded, we were handed over a park that was the happy home to a horde of pigs that used to be reared and slaughtered by a local valmiki strongman...
in 2 days we had negotiated with the pig owner, worked out our own bhagidari even helping him to build a proper pig stye, cleaned the park, and began classes as exams were round the corner..
after testing came the wooing when one was laden with repulsive praise till one was asked for a seat on the Board that we of course politely refused to give;
then came the threats that were answered by a lodging a complaint at the local police station...

By that time we had a nice tent up in the late pig park!
We were horrified when we were thrown out within an hour on a cold december morning, being told that a community centre was to be built for us.
we tucked ourselves wherever we could in between homes, on road sides, still believing.... but to our dismay when the foundations started being build we realised that they were for public conveniences!

did i tell all of you that the pig park was once a children's park where a broken swing had withstood the test time in silent testimony?

neck in sight cont

20 december 2004

we went up in arms, and the foundations were quickly filled and the community centre erected.
i guess you by now can guess the foregone conclusion that this did not come to us but went to some outside upmarket page 3 NGO, that does not employ any locals and works with children from other areas!

the saga continued..

when they had tried all external attacks they hit below the belt and got a smalltime trade union to instigate some teachers and drag us to labour courts

the last month has been an eye opener, as we slowly realised that this was not a simple matter of getting a few more pennies for the staff.
As we seek answers, the game becomes murkier as the division continues: if one day you are made to be the champion of the valmikis, within hours they have cleverly turned the table to make you look their worst enemy.

During my varied and multi facetted career, I have been vindicated in my stand of taking the support of the lowest of the low to get things done efficiently.
Today we at pwhy have worked out an understanding with the valmiki samaj, got them to open a block level office with one of our staffers as head, and we plan to slowly empower them to take on community development not just for their caste, but for every Indian in need of help.

One day, i know this will become a model of meaningful social development, but the road is long and wrought with dangers. My daughter Shamika was even threatened in the hope of making me make the mistake they are hoping for.

I know I can survive but need support to sustain this activity so that it remains independent of organisations and bodies, and is a true reflection of what we seek to do: change the life of individual indians with the help of individual indians, and build the India of our dreams!
That is why I ask you to help us make our just one rupee a day programme a true and significant funding option.
Not only with this help in restoring the dark image NGOs have acquired, but will remain in the true spirit of project WHY.

more thoughts

earlier thoughts can be read here

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