Category Archives: Project Hope

I am alive.

Project Hope January 12, 2014 Leave a comment

 

This is an email I sent to every single contributor to Project Hope on January 12, 2014, the first year anniversary of Hope.

 

 

Hi,

A very happy new year to you!
Today is a special day. It is the first year anniversary of Project Hope. What better day than this to write to you and share what we have accomplished. Nothing of this would have been possible without you. Thank you.
A few of you wrote to me in the earlier months asking my whereabouts. So here it is.
Five months, one full term and 15 kgs lighter I must say I am doing pretty good! Although I don’t have any major update at this moment as grades for the three essays from the first term are yet to be announced. Yes, I am not in the best of situations but nothing ever goes as per the plan. I really wish I could devote less time thinking and planning expenses as the money is woefully short. In my previous emails I did mention about the forex rates hitting my budget hard but this is worse than I imagined. But this isn’t anything that can’t be tackled. I am doing everything possible to make it work and will sail through. Just that, as I said, I wish I could worry less about money.
I am fully satisfied with the course and am really enjoying it. London is pretty and on many days while walking back home and looking at the skyline I think that I can’t believe I actually made it. And I think of each one of you, your emails, your words of support and thank you in my heart. I hope you get the hiccups on a regular basis.
I will write again by the end of this month updating about the grades for the first term.
Cheers!

This is it. Day Zero.

Project Hope January 12, 2014 Leave a comment

This is an email I sent to every single contributor to Project Hope on September 8, 2013.

 

Hi,

I fly to London tonight.
To be honest, there was a point in the past month when I thought that this email will never happen. But here it is.
Thank you once again. In its truest sense believe me that this wouldn’t have been possible if not for your unconditional support. I am overwhelmed by your love. Definitely my past life’s karma is paying me off.
After being in touch over the past months I am sure you have realised how dramatic I am (cues in some Gothic music), hence I am christening today as Day Zero.
This is where it begins.
Cheers!

 

Pound touches 100

Project Hope January 12, 2014 Leave a comment

This is an email I sent to every single contributor to Project Hope on August 19, 2013.

 

Hi,

Six months ago when I sat down to budget this MA plan I had to take a worst-case scenario. I took 100 rupees to a pound. Today this nightmare has come true. It is not that I don’t have this money. The question is whether I am being arrogant by still going ahead with it when affording it means looking like a fool.
This is not the first time I am apprising you the currency fluctuation. Some of you replied after my earlier email that I should have handled currency volatility by certain methods. Although, it is really not in my hands. The visa rules needed money to be in the account for a specific period of time. This means that I had no option but to see the rupee slide and see Project Hope expense swell like its been stung by a bee.
By the time I came to a stage where I could buy pounds it had already crossed 92. Obviously I made a mistake by hoping that the RBI guidelines and the government’s actions might come to the rescue.
The question is whether Project Hope is tenable? Am I being pure foolish if I don’t abandon this now? 
Sometimes one needs to go by the gut feel and discard the economic tangent. I am beginning to feel that the increase in monetary implication cannot be ignored anymore.
I am trying to find answers to the above asked questions. Its my job to keep you posted, hence this email. I will communicate my final decision by the end of the week.
Regards,

At What Cost?

Project Hope January 12, 2014 Leave a comment

This is an email I sent to every single contributor to Project Hope on June 20, 2013.

 

Hi,

To begin with, there are a few who are getting this email for the first time. Well, all of you are getting this particular email for the first time but you have been getting this newsletter kind of email for sometime now and some are receiving it for the first time.

The world has changed since I last wrote to you. And it has changed a lot. Do we change with the changing times or should we act like the stiff tree and stare at the risk of being uprooted?

I started Project Hope in January. The weather was pleasant back then. So was the journey. By March, Mumbai was scorching hot and incidentally the well of Project Hope began to dry up. Everyone waited for the monsoons. Project Hope, too, waited. It arrived. By now the weather and Project Hope were tied to each other’s fate. What followed was torrential rains. We are in the midst of it. How could Project Hope not react to it?

In January, the rupee to a pound was at around 82. I budgeted at 86. Today, pound closed above 92.

What does this mean? This means that my entire expense of 23,000 pounds goes up by Rs 20,000 each time the pound gets stronger by Re 1. If I was spending Rs 19,80,000 when pound was at 86, I am spending Rs 20,00,000 when the pound reaches 87.

Currently, one pound costs Rs 92.

At this point in time I am forced to rethink. Is this too expensive? Is this even a valid question? Am I acting plain stupid now?

The cost-benefit analysis clearly is against this. But I am glad I am not good at this cost-benefit analysis. The returns on imagination is far greater than any the numerical projections.

To some this might look like my plea to ask for more money. I am not asking you for any more money. ‘From the burrow I fell. To the Earth’s core. I did not burn. I got stronger. For I was sand before.’ (Sorry, couldn’t help at trying my hand at a few lines. Clearly, poems are not for me. Also, chemistry is not one of my strong points.)

Moving on.

Although a couple of days ago I did tweet about restarting Project Hope but aborted that plan. Coming back to Twitter to find this money somehow felt like a dent to my credibility. Now you may ask that I am whining about rupee-pound on Twitter all the time. “Yeah, I am working on it,” I would say. Habit of 26 years won’t go in a day. Bear with me.

With this email, I am apprising you of the current position of Project Hope. Turning back from here is not an option. I am not turning back. We have found Rs 24 lakh and this rupee volatility is not going to stop us.

Once again, thank you for being part of this extraordinary journey. My next email to you will be of the visa stamp.

Regards

We made history!

Project Hope, Uncategorized April 19, 2013 Comments: 3

People say that the problem with me is that my writing is crude because it comes straight from the heart. I guess that explains why I am writing this email at 2.30 am and sending without editing or proofing. I can’t sleep. I am soaking in what we have just achieved. Project Hope. Rs 8 lakh. We are through.

I can’t be happier than to announce to you that we have done it. And we have two more months to go for the deadline.
You know, some said that I pulled it off because it was me. This is just half of the story. Maybe, even less than half. I pulled it off because it was you. Couldn’t have done this without you. You made this possible. Thank you.
I survived every single slander, smear, smug and schmuck behaviour all because of the faith you put in me. Incidentally, all these and I have a common beginning. The letter ‘S’.
I am not making any sense, am I? I am glad I am not. Because there is no better way to explain that I have no words to express my gratitude for what you did for me.
January 12. This is the date when I officially launched Project Hope. I still remember that moment crystal clear when I just told Manisha Lakhe that this is what I am going to do. She has been the backbone of this Project and with this letter I thank her. Without your support and her constant brainwashing I would have quit a long time ago.
I can’t even begin to thank every single one of you for contributing in whatever capacities you could, in spreading the word, in asking others to do the same and in not giving up on my Hope.
I received contributions ranging from Rs 400 to Rs 2,70,000. My hands shiver as I type this because I still can’t believe that we pulled this off. Once someone asked me if the amount of money an individual gave mattered or not. I replied, “Its the intent that matters more than what one gave.” I hope you will agree with me. We are a team. You and me.
You know, when we work to make something possible and that takes over our lives? That’s what Project Hope has been since January for me. I have breathed, eaten, slept and lived Project Hope. There hasn’t been a moment when I thought of anything else. I am glad I am unmarried else my wife would have divorced me for Hope.
And during this journey I realised this strange thing about a goal. When you set your eyes on one, you can’t see, think, imagine anything else. That goal encapsulates your existence. It enchants only one song. It drenches you in the rain where every drop is a reminder of your goal.
But when you achieve that goal life just zooms out and you realise how that goal, which till now was everything, is actually just the first step of a ladder.
We have made history, but in reality, this just turns out to be my first step towards a larger goal I set out to achieve.
I hope I am able to live up to the expectations you put in me. I hope I am able to live to the expectations I put in me. And I hope that with your continued support and love we continue to change lives day after day after day.
We were just 60. Imagining what more of us can do is exhilarating.
Oh and yes, Good morning!
Cheers!
Shubhashish
PS: This is the email I sent out last night to all those chose to a part of Project Hope.

Project Hope in The Hindu

Project Hope March 6, 2013 Leave a comment
Project Hope in The Hindu.

Project Hope in The Hindu.

Mid-Day’s story on Project Hope

Project Hope February 16, 2013 1 Comment

Mid-Day's story on Project Hope

When the news-writer becomes a news-maker.

A fantastic half century!

Project Hope February 12, 2013 Comments: 5
This very day a month ago Project Hope came into existence.I wasn’t sure how I am going to manage this mammoth task of finding money which could take me at least 4 years to earn, if I saved every penny I earned.30 days later and Project Hope has gone from zero to Rs 4,00,000.

I am using a crutch to walk. My legs are so wobbly that I can’t even stand on my own. Some may think I am drunk. But I am just high. High on love and high on hope.

As you know I set a target of Rs 8 lakh from Project Hope and have easily surpassed Rs 4 lakh mark! Mind you, the cheques I collected from people in Delhi are yet to be deposited!

*Goes to check the expiry date*

*Phew! Have time*

Its still an uphill task but reaching this milestone in such a short time is not an easy achievement. I would like to thank all 50 of you who made this possible.

Thank you.

Project Hope. The Repercussions.

Project Hope February 8, 2013 Leave a comment

I should update this blog a lot more often.

Let’s begin with Project Hope numbers. I have collected Rs 1,84,000 as on February 8! Isn’t that fabulous? I genuinely did not believe this was possible. Definitely I was under the influence of the most potent alcohol of all when I thought of starting this initiative – hope.

And since I was in Delhi last week I met people who happily wrote a few cheques to me! Talk of offline collection drive!

But as I said earlier, contribution is not only in terms of money. A friend was seemingly upset knowing that people don’t even have just Rs 800 to give. Well, neither do I blame her,  nor do I blame you. Any sum that has the potential to change someone’s life isn’t small.

And its not about the cash totally. People are also helping me spread the word and that help crosses the ocean faster than a Concorde.

Now the repercussion.

Project Hope has slightly changed my behaviour on Twitter. Earlier I could get into arguments and mild trolling. Now I can’t. Because the people I used to argue and troll with have come out and helped me so generously that its embarrassing for me to argue with them.

Not that they have shown their discomfort but I am myself not able to separate the two.

People talk of Chinese Walls all the time. Although I have conquered one literally it is the figurative Wall that has put me in the dilemma.

But I am not complaining. Its a small price to pay. Moreover, maybe I don’t disagree with them now at all.

Possible? Yes. Hope.

Project Hope. Day 2. The commitment.

Project Hope January 15, 2013 Leave a comment
If love could be measured by the money I received today even a Rumi poem would have fallen short by a mile.Two absolutely beautiful souls contributed Rs 1 lakh. And the emails I got did swell me up a lot. But this is a day to make a commitment. A commitment to give back.

I faced a couple of issues relating to my genuineness and keeping some of the identities anonymous. I am glad some of you asked questions and were satisfied with my answers. One thing I wanted to make very clear since some of you had this query. The total course fee is around Rs 22 lakh. I have half of it sorted through a bank loan and my personal savings. Its the rest that I am trying to raise through Project Hope.

Some of you said you don’t want your names to put up on a public forum. Fair enough. I deleted all names from the public file.

Some of you said you don’t want the money back. In normal circumstances I would have used it to build a fresh corpus to see the world but that can wait.

The amount of love and support I have received is simply unparalleled. This has emboldened the thought that if you set out to achieve something people will come forward to help.

A few emails were from people who are in the same boat as me and yet contributed. I just can’t thank them enough.

The last time I said so many “thank yous” was on my engagement day! That did not survive. This will.

Its time for a commitment.

In approximately four years from now I will match the money I am able to raise through this Project Hope in the coming three months. That corpus will be used to fund education of people like me.

Say Yes! to Project Hope.