Rakshabandhan is always special occasion for kids who attend Balagokulam and this year it was even more so as they had among them two Didis from Manipur to celebrate the festival of love and unity.
Phamdom Rameshori Chanu ji, who is pursuing Phd in English at University of Hyderabad, along with her friend Sofia ji participated in Rakshabandhan utsav and eloquently introduced kids to rich and diverse culture of beautiful North-Eastern states.
Rameshori ji used beautiful photographs to acquaint children with to dressing style, food, dance, culture and homes of North-East people.
She was positively surprised when children exactly pin pointed Manipur in the map of Bharat. She spoke about the 7 sister states (Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh) and 1 brother state (Sikkim) of North-East.
She also introduced children to prominent tourist places of North-East states. Her presentation fascinated and motivated children to visit the North-Eastern states and specially visit the natural root bridge.
Balagokulam children tied rakhees to their new lovable Didi’s from Manipur. Guests were also briefed by Sikshaks about Balagokulams and about how Rakshabandhan is celebrated across 60 plus Balagokulams in Bhagyanagar.
After the Balagokulam session, Rameshori ji and her friend interacted with Balgokulam families over south Indian breakfast. They shared about sense of cleanliness prevalent among people of her region. When tourists throw trash on road, and if its get noticed even by a small child, they feel it’s their responsibility to throw the trash in the dustbin immediately. Almost all prominent tourist places have bamboo dustbins.
Rameshori ji narrated her own story to illustrate how good-natured people of Northeast are. She recounted the story of a lady from Arunachal Pradesh who returned her phone which she lost during a bus journey.
She also shared about the struggles people face in remote villages of Northeastern states.
It was a memorable day for all Balagokulam children and even more so for families as they met someone who brought to them fascinating stories of lives of people living in remotest but very beautiful part of our great country.
—A report by Balagokulam Team
