Blending Spectrum: On Location

The first day I walked into the Nizamuddin basti as a volunteer in August 2007, a group of excited children came running towards me and asked me if I was a new didi. Then each one of them eagerly introduced themselves to me and greeted me; some brought flowers, some gave me a hug, and some just could not help smiling. It is that one experience that has stayed with me ever since, and makes me go back to Nizamuddin again and again. Over the past two years I have seen many volunteers come and go but, like me, those who decide to stay on are the ones who built that very special bond with the children.

The Nizamuddin basti is a rag-picker colony with about thirty families living in it, some Muslim and others Hindu. Because of their economically disadvantaged background, the upbringing of these children is often unpleasant. Frustration caused by the lack of basic necessities in the area is released through violence, and in their years of innocence these children are exposed to a much darker side of life than we ever are.

A slum child’s eagerness to learn gives us all the positive energy we need, on location. After about two months of teaching the children about hygiene, one day this little girl at the basti came up to me and showed me her hands. She told me that she had washed them because she did not want to fall ill. That, for me, was by far one of the most heartening experiences.

Still, there are some problems we encounter on a daily basis. The attitude of the parents is one such problem: they are not always comfortable letting outsiders interact so closely with their children, but this attitude is changing as the parents are beginning to understand what we are doing and why we are doing it.

Communal tension is another problem that we have tried to address over the years as these children imbibe intolerance to other religions from their home environments. This attitude is difficult to deal with as it is deep rooted and reinforced by families, however we have been able to address it to the extent that whatever their home environment may be like our classroom is a place of secular learning where they sit together and work with each other.

The change I see is very slow, but the trust a child builds in me gives me the courage to do what I am doing and have a vision for these smiling faces.


Devyani Dutt

Current Projects

A few of the projects that are currently functioning in the YP are:

1. The Blending Spectrum Project which works with providing healthcare and non-formal education in the form of certain life-skills training (hygiene, memory etc) to urban street children in Delhi. We work with a team of 30 volunteers and reach out to over 110 children over our two locations: the Nizamuddin Basti (South Delhi) and the Sarai Hostel (North Delhi).

2. Project 19 is a 3 year long initiative set up to work with young people on the issues of HIV/AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights. By training young people in Delhi to conduct awareness workshops and discussions around issues of sexuality, gender, identity and sexual reproductive health we are helping to break down the culture of silence and taboo around these issues and provide spaces where accurate information can be disseminated to young people.

3. The Butterfly Project provides young film-makers and writers with the training, resources and platforms to engage with socio-cultural issues through audio-visual and written mediums. Through the publication of our magazine, The Bridge and our annual film festival - The Film Series, we provide young people with alternative mediums to connect with issues they are passionate about and work towards social change and justice.

4. The RTI Programme provides young people with a space to engage with the legislative systems in our country, demystifying the laws, their application and the political process as a whole with the larger aim of encouraging a culture of active citizenship amongst the youth. The project undertaken by this branch is What Does Your Vote Want?, a non-partisan, non-political initiative set up to prepare young people for the upcoming General Elections, be it by providing them with the necessary information required to get registered as a voter, or by creating dialogue for young people to discus issues around politics, governance and voting.

5. VOICES - The School Project looks at taking the education programmes for school students beyond the formal structure of the classroom by conducting specialized awareness workshops on issues of peer-pressure, bullying and mental heath. Through these workshops, conducted by college students who act as peer-educators, VOICES aims at developing an informed decision making capacity and stronger life skills for adolescent students in urban Delhi schools.

6. Silhouette supports young people working in the fields of performing and visual arts by providing them with a platform to showcase their work, and a space to exchange ideas, information and innovation between artists, amateurs, professionals and enthusiasts. This year, Silhouette is focusing on issues of music education and careers in music through conducting workshops and organizing performance platforms.


More information about these projects will be available soon, please subscribe via email for further updates.