The name 'Raksha Bandhan' suggests 'a bond of protection'. On this auspicious day, brothers make a promise to their sisters to protect them from all harms and troubles and the sisters pray to God to protect their brother from all evil. The festival falls on the Shravan Purnima which comes generally in the month of August. Sisters tie the silk thread called Rakhi on their brother's wrist and pray for their well being and brothers promise to take care of their sisters.

Raksha Bandhan is now considered as a day to celebrate the sacred relation of a brother and a sister. Yet there have been examples in history where in rakhi has just been a raksha or protection. It could be tied by wife, a daughter or mother. The Rishis tied rakhi to the people who came seeking their blessings. The sages tied the sacred thread to themselves to safe guard them from the evil. It is by all means the 'Papa Todak, Punya Pradayak Parva' or the day that bestows boon and ends all sins as it is mentioned in the scriptures.

Previously, Rakhi festival encompasses the warmth shared between the siblings but now it goes way beyond it. Some people tie Rakhi to neighbours and close friends signifying a peaceful co-existence of every individual. Rakhi Utsav was first popularized by Rabindranath Tagore to promote the feeling of unity and a commitment to all members of society to protect each other and encourage a harmonious Social life.

In today's scenario, the day has a different perspective. The occasion involves a pledge of life-time practice of moral, cultural and spiritual values. The values and the sentiments attached to the rituals of this festival are worth inculcating by the whole human race, the sentiments of harmony and peaceful coexistence. The festival of Raksha Bandhan assumes all forms of Raksha or protection, of righteousness and destroyer of all sin. The ritual of Rakhi tying has become so important that come what may, brothers and sisters try to visit each other place on this particular day in order to bring back the oneness of the family, binding the family together in an emotional bond of love.
 

The first day was observed as environment day with the children making trees made of paper& wooden sticks and colorfully decorating them. The slightly elder ones painted T-shirts. The tiny tots danced merrily to the various popular children’s songs from the Bollywood.

The camp would culminate on the ‘Mother’s Day’ on 8th. Famous magicians from Kolkata would regale the tiny tots on the day. There are around 50 children within the age group of 2-9 participating in the six day camp. Special lessons on painting, dance and general etiquettes would be imparted to the children said Puja Jalan, the Director of Upper Bazar Eurokids.

Lalgarhi is an unknown village in the Latehar District of Jharkhand under the Haintochara Panchayat. A small village of 150 houses with around 800 inhabitants has been enjoying the rule of ‘Ram Rajya’. Not a single case of theft has been reported in the village and remarkably, since independence the villagers have not approached a police station and not a single case registered for any offence in it! Amazing and unbelievable but true!

Except for two families of Harijans and ‘Lohars’(Blacksmiths) the entire village comprises of people from scheduled tribes, the Kharwars! If it so happens that a villager per chance loses his belonging at any place in the village, the same gets retrieved and deposited at the Village Head’s house to be collected by the owner at his convenience.

The (Gram Pradhan) Village Head Rameshwar Singh Kharwar states in a matter of fact manner that there are hardly any problems within the village and if some minor problem does arise it is amicably settled by the village panchayat itself. He added that it has been made mandatory for at least one person from a family to be present at such panchayat meetings. The Panchayat is held regularly once a week. An explanation call is made on any absentee to state a valid reason for absence.

The Village Supremo added that cases pertaining to witch-hunting/practicing, minor squabbles, land dispute or objectionable love affairs normally figured at the weekly panchayat meetings and were settled amicably and unanimously. He recollected that since his childhood he had never heard an incident of robbery or theft in the village.

Most of the proved offenses were so minor that it evoked only a penalty of Rs.50 which in turn was passed on to the informer of the crime. Ex chief minister Madhu Koda in appreciation of the village code had rewarded the Gram Pradhan Rameshwar Singh with Rs.15000 which he utilized for the well being of the villagers. The Village Head added that if a youth of the village ran short of funds for developing his career, the villagers would pool the required amount to see the youth through. The youth would conscientiously repay the amount to the Gram Pradhan at the earliest.

The village panchayat has the right to boycott a villager not heeding to the panchayat judgment but as of date not even a single case has emerged for this punishment, added Rameshwar Singh.
Lalgarhi is an ideal example of a rural Jharkhand village committed to development. The law of the country and the State is followed to a Tee and every rural development program is religiously completed in the village. The village had no schools till ‘85and no connecting roads till ’88. Now with the awareness instilled in the villagers, the village has Power, roads, water and irrigation facilities for their needs. The green fields around the village are enough proof. Paru Singh, a 70year old senior citizen of the village states that the villagers had never found the need of any outside intervention on any matter. The entire village lived like a joint family. There are bound to be minor squabbles in a joint family which is resolved by the head of the family, our Gram Pradhan. The pride with which these words were uttered reflected the harmony prevailing in the village.

Namki Devi recollects the day she forget her ‘batua’ (a cloth pouch containing money and small knick-knacks) while washing her face at the pond side. The pouch contained nearly Rs.300. Hardly had she reached her house, a boy came running to inform her that her pouch was deposited with the Gram Pradhan. Not a penny was missing from the bag.

Paru Singh & Tulsi Singh Kharwar’s sons had graduated as engineers and the happy fathers speak at length on the villagers’ unity and brotherhood

The village has its own centre for registration of birth/death within 21 days at the Panchayat Head’s office. The male & female child are treated at par and education made compulsory for them in the village school from the primary level itself. The village is proud of the fact that it has produced two engineers.

It is a wonder that the naxalite infested area of Latehar has such an ideal village and even the extremists prefer to stay away from them. At the same time it is also sad and unfortunate that the District Administration is yet to take a note of it and reward it accordingly by naming it as model village.

Jharkhand desperately needs more Lalgarhis to improve its tarnished image.

- P. Vijay Raghavan

The day of ‘Agja’ (the lighting of community bon-fire) is considered as very auspicious for the Hindu community of northern States. The holy fire is lit and people offer various items to the fire with the conviction of driving away the evil. Later Dancing and merry making follows till late in the night.

The tribal State of Jharkhand has its own unique rituals for the festival. On the day of ‘Agja’, the tribal villagers of Bundu, about 45kms from Ranchi, the womenfolk carry broken cane baskets on their head, stuffed with flowers and pieces of non-usable items from their houses and reach the outskirts (border) of the village singing and dancing. These items are transferred to a broken earthen pot and dumped at the roadside of the border. Most of the women consume ‘hadia’ the local brew and dance in frenzy. Many women are dressed in semi-nude costumes depicting the evil spirit. The dumping process symbolizes the riddance of evil spirits haunting the village. Remarkably, no male participates or accompany them throughout the ritual.

Once the women return to the village, the men take over. They assemble at the ‘Sarna sthal’ (the holy meeting place of the tribals) late in the evening and consume the sacrificial goat meat and boiled rice along with ‘hadia’ in front of a bon-fire. The feasting continues till mid night and then they discard their clothing. Stark naked with cane in their hand they set out on their mission to drive away the evil spirits from the village. They make a complete round of the village lanes beating their sticks regularly and chanting slogans. The entire village is blacked-out with no one daring to light even a match stick. After completing the rounds these men head for the village pond to take a bath. They enter the village and then get dressed.

Next morning the festival of colors ‘Holi’ is celebrated with full gaiety and every villager partaking in it.This annual ritual has been followed for centuries.

While the villagers of Bundu and surrounding areas celebrate this ritual on ‘Holi’, tribal from the South Chhota Nagpur region, in Gumla and surrounding areas celebrate it just before monsoon sets in, normally at the fag end of summer. The ritual however remains the same.

It is heartwarming to see the centuries old traditions being followed even in this modern era. The cultural heritage of the State is a matter of pride.

- P.Vijay Raghavan

The garments are designed by fashion designers of National School of Fashion Designing and under the supervision of famous fashion designer Ritu Kumar’s associate Shanit.

Judging by the crowd of youngsters at the new showroom in Hari Om Tower in Ranchi, it could easily be surmised that khadi fashion was there to stay.

Ranchi had never figured in any such case till now, but what happened yesterday at the Cambridge Institute of Technology (CIT) would send chill down the spine of every one except the perpetrators of the ghastly crime.

Vikas Kumar Singh and Jeevesh Kumar had joined the CIT with the hope of fulfilling their ambition of becoming engineers. Even in the wildest of their nightmares they would not have dreamt of the fate lying in wait for them yesterday night. Living in a private room across the college, the two were ready to have their dinner when they were ‘summoned’ by the seniors for an urgent meeting and immediately on entering the room the two unsuspecting juniors were mobbed by eight seniors and the sadistic ‘beating’ commenced. Belts, sticks, rods, shoes, slippers and of course the free hands were mercilessly used on the defenseless victims. The orgy lasted for over 150 minutes without any pity, till the victims collapsed unconscious. They were woken up from the daze and packed off to their rooms with threat of life if they even dared to lodge a complaint.

The boys however managed to convey the matter to their parents, who rushed to their aid at the earliest possible time. The matter was reported to the police and FIR lodged. The culprits were arrested under sections 142, 342 & 323 (all bailable offense) and released on bail. The boys were taken to Sadar Hospital for medical inspection and discharged the next day.

The matter came to the knowledge of media persons and things started moving in the right direction. City SP Shambu Thakur was taken aback after seeing the wounds of the victims and immediately ordered a review of the sections under which the culprits were booked.

The victims’ parents, especially Vikas’s mother Hemanti Devi was inconsolable after seeing the wounds on her only son’s body. She fainted twice during the talks with the media. Vikas’s father also burst into tears while narrating the apathy of both the police as well as the CIT management.

The victims were in a state of shock and were afraid to get back to the campus as they feared that their lives were in danger. The seniors had powerful connections and openly boasted that no body would dare to lay a finger on them. The students’ career is in jeopardy.

CIT Chairman Bahadur Singh rules out the allegation of ragging and stated that it was a matter of personal grudge and as such the institute has no role in it. He however retracted from his statement and said that if ragging was proved the criminal proceedings would be initiated against the culprits as per the law. He added that the CIT management is also enquiring into the matter. He reluctantly condemned the violent act and said that the guilty should be punished and may even be rusticated from the college.

Five of the culprits Vinod,Anshu, Abhay, Yatendra and Gandharb Jha were from affluent families having high connections. The other three Irshad, Pallav and Ashish were just tag alongs in the notorious group.

With the national media, especially the electronic channels and the entire local media telecasting the gruesome incident, the matter is bound to attract lot of protests and demonstrations, seeking justice and punishment to the offenders.

- P. Vijay Raghavan

बच्चों को दिए गए उपहार में ब्रश, पेस्ट, टंगक्लिनर, साबून, हैंकी, बिस्कीट और चॉकलेट आदि शामिल थे। कार्यक्रम में हमदर्द कमिटी के अध्यक्ष मो॰ शकील, युपीएस स्कूल की प्रधानाध्यापिका शबनम व अन्य अघ्यापिकाओं ने मदद की और इस्लाम नगर के निवासियों ने बढ-चढ़ कर भाग लिया। मुख्य रूप से भ्व्च् की सचिव नुसरत जहाँ ने कहा कि इस मोहल्ले में HOP के माध्यम से विगत आठ महीने में परिमल नथवाणी के निजी फंड द्वारा निर्माण कार्यों के अलावा लोगों में जागरूकता फैलाने के लिए कई कार्यक्रम चलाए जा रहे है, मगर यहाँ आशा अनुरूप फिड बैक नहीं दिखता। हमने यह पाया है कि यहाँ की सबसे बड़ी समस्या गंदगी है जिसका कुप्रभाव बच्चों के स्वास्थ्य पर सीधा पड़ता है अतः यहाँ के लोगों की जवाबदेही अपने बच्चों के प्रति पहले है। इसलिए स्वच्छता रैली का आयोजन बच्चों के द्वारा कराने का मकसद उनके माँ-बाप के दिल में उनके फर्ज के जज्बे को आवाज देने के लिए किया गया है और ऐसे कार्यक्रम आगे भी होते रहेंगे और एक दिन ये स्लम बस्ती राँची शहर के लिए रोल मॉडल बन कर उभरेगा तभी परिमल नथवाणी का सपना पुरा होगा।