Friends of the Foundation
A few weeks ago I attended my niece’s graduation at Tufts. Neha is a bright star in the firmament – one of the nicest people I know, as well as one who makes our generation feel confident about “passing the torch”. Neha volunteered at Karuna Vihar when she was only in high school. She was […]
Lucky
April 29 was the hottest day Delhi has seen in 50 years: 43.5 Celsius (110 F!). Just our luck that that was the day we had chosen to fly out to the US. Except we didn’t fly out. Dad and I were up at 4:30 AM and planned to be on the road […]
Mini Physio
Here’s another story from Karuna Vihar. Ganga Ram, our physiotherapist assistant has been on leave for the last few weeks as his wife has just delivered a child in their village in Nepal and he’s gone home to celebrate. His absence leaves a large gap in the school as so many children need therapy. Not […]
Children Learn What They Live . . .
For the most part, we shouldn’t be surprised by children’s behaviour. They learn it from us. They watch us closely – not just when we think we are “teaching” them, but all the time. They watch when we are under stress, when we are angry, when all our buttons get pushed. They watch us when […]
This is HUGE
Here are Raj Kumar and Harikala, holding their letters of acceptance to a six-month training course in Mumbai for Child Development Aides. What a thrill! We are all so proud of them and so excited at this wonderful opportunity they have been given. The course is being run by our good friends in Ummeed – […]
The Lonely Crowd
A few days ago, I read this tiny news item in the Times of India: “Cafe Manager Kills Self“ A 23 year old man allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday morning by hanging himself from the ceiling fan in his home in Malviya Nagar. The victim, Harsh Saini, was working as a manager in a Cafe […]
Apgar Scores or A Baby’s Best Friend
I first learned about the Apgar Score when I studied to become a midwife. (That was over 25 years ago and for my class project, I got pregnant with Anand and delivered him halfway through the course.) APGAR stands for: Activity Pulse Grimace Appearance Respiration and is, in my humble opinion, a clumsy acronym for […]
Simple Kindness
This morning at breakfast, Dad told me about an incident from his childhood. He grew up in the Great Depression and his family was very poor. One day, it seemed every child in the neighborhood had a bolo bat and ball (a wooden paddle with a ball attached to it by an elastic). “Nyeh, nyeh,” […]
Reflections on Mumbai, Terror and Living in Fear
“It is by little and by little that we are saved.” That’s a line from Dorothy Day, my personal hero and our family saint. She believed in doing the work of God through one person at a time, yet never lost sight of the larger systemmic issues which needed to change. Like us, she lived […]
Barack Obama
I know there is little to say now about this man’s historic victory, but I still have to add my voice to the choir. I never in my life have felt so hopeful about a political event – Obama’s campaign in America has made me re-think the whole way we are working on disability in […]