Hindira is the name of a little girl I met in Mumbai on my very first trip to India in January 1998. She had clear hazel eyes, and my heart melted the moment she took me by the hand and spoke several words of French. She couldn't read or write but already spoke five languages! I let her lead me with ease and determination through the crowded market, past colorful and fragrant stalls. She seemed at home here and I wondered why she was alone. A music vendor at the far end of the market saw us arriving and immediately pulled out a carton of powdered milk, laying it upon his counter with a smile. Hindira looked at me with her innocent, pleading eyes and asked me to buy the milk for her, and for a moment I was going to say yes. But when I discovered that the carton was actually empty, I refused to buy it. The vendor became angry that I had discovered his ploy and that Hindira had failed to adequately do her job, and he yelled as she ran away. I realized that by refusing to buy the empty box of milk, I was actually punishing this poor little girl. In his anger, the vendor would not pay her for her work and she would not be able to bring the money home to her family. I ran after Hindira and caught up with her further down, giving her some money to compensate for what I might have taken away from her today. She didn't want to take it, she seemed scared, but finally she accepted with gratitude. This was one of my first experiences of India: a feeling of profound injustice towards the children of the streets - so beautiful, so innocent.

An old Asian proverb says: "If you are planning for a year, sow rice. If you are planning for a decade, plant trees. If you are planning for a lifetime, educate people."

In honor of this touching little girl who was never given the chance to live her life learning languages not to be met by deception and empty milk cartons day after day - and our hopes to plan for the futures of children just like her - I am naming this charity gala Hindira.

Maryam Ingar
Director of Hindira