Some of you know her, some of you have read about her.. she is real and she is Preeti.. the one whose granny wants us to give her rat poison, the childwoman the family wants to wish away.. she is also the one that eats insects because she is micro-nutrient deficient!
Her dream: to be a mother..
Like all special and blessed children, she has a lot of love to give, only no one to give it to...if you come by do not be syrprised if she hugs you tight...
Preeti was born in a land where a girl is rarely truly desired, and a disabled one finds her way at the end of the line.. be it food or medecines.. she never gets her share... yet children like her bear no malice at all...
As I sat wondering how project why would survive, and whether all this endless struggle was worth it , Shamikaa stomped in.. holding what looked like a crumbled piece of newspaper: almost incoherent in her speech she opened it and therein lay a few grains of rice held together by some brown gooey stuff... it took me some time to understand that this was what Preeti's family had sent as her lunch...
I was speechless as one emotion after the other took hold of me... anger, sadness, shock .. hurt. And in that moment I realised that I had to continue to fight for project why's survival if it was only to ensure that for a few hours a day Preeti was surrounded by love and care and was treated like a human being... with dignity and respect..
And if that was not enough, my heart missed a beat when I heard that Preeti had been very uspet when she was told to give the packet away.. remember it was the lunch her mother had given...
On more why had to be answered...
Note: project why gives lunch to the special children, but we feel that parents need to assume their reponsibilities and hence ask them to pack a meal.. neddless to say it is often far from ideal!