After a long week of a common cold and jobless bed rest, one blazing hot afternoon I decided to visit ETASHA’s Madanpur Khadar training centre. Since I wasn’t sure of the metro route I went via auto. Very reluctant to take me, the driver said, “Khadar toh bekar jagah hai madam,” (it’s a hopeless filthy area) but somehow he agreed to drop me for an extra Rs. 50 but getting there provided its own obstacles. After a bumpy 35 min ride I reached Samosa Chowk and then next was in ETASHA’s office. Two classes were running simultaneously and so I [Continue Reading...]

  Watching newspapers and channels flashing headlines about minors and adults being raped, molested and assaulted I lost all faith in humanity. It made me wonder, “What has my country come to? Is this really how things are going to be?” Cries for justice fall on deaf ears and the authorities seem to turn a blind eye! Ultimately the victims are left to their own devices and to fend for themselves. Traumatic? Isn’t it? These were the “Damini Days“, as I would like to call them. The days when people raised their voices and gradually started losing hope. One often [Continue Reading...]

“But Sir, what should we do after class????…here we can talk to our teachers and students but once we are outside, there is no one with whom we can talk. We don’t live together, so we can talk to each other only when we are in class.” Then I gave them the Idea of texting each other in English because I noticed they all have mobiles with them. This idea appealed to them especially with Prakash (name changed). He even asked for my number so that I can correct him whenever he texts me and from  the very next day [Continue Reading...]

Want to donate AND save on your income tax? Donate to ETASHA before 14th March and not only is your donation tax deductible (Indian, US & UK donors only) but ETASHA will be eligible for matching funds, thus potentially DOUBLING any donation made! India is taking part in the 2013 Give India Tax Saving Challenge, an event in which Give India provides a series of matching funds to participating NGOs as an incentive to donors to give before the end of the financial year. Give India is the world’s largest online platform linking donors to registered, vetted NGOs. Last year [Continue Reading...]

As I waited on the second floor of the training block of the Jijabai ITI, I kept wondering, “How would things go? Would I be able to do this properly?” And just that very moment echoes of “We shall overcome” reached my ears. Yes, it was being sung by the girls of ITI enrolled with ETASHA. A minute later about twenty girls burst out of room no. 1 and I started searching for one who may stay back in the classroom. I finally asked someone for Kalpana (whom I was to interview that afternoon) and she pointed out towards a [Continue Reading...]