Revathi Ganesan, a senior citizen residing in Chennai with a flair for many creative pursuits, is a skilled Thanjavur painter. But for months now, she has been immersed in a different kind of art project — one that may not demand technical mastery, but calls for immense patience and deep emotion. It’s a labour of love that has quietly moved the hearts of thousands of soldiers stationed in some of the most remote corners of the country.
Since 1998, year after year — barring a few missed ones during her children’s school days — Revathi has been sending out this labour of love packed neatly into small packets. Each one carries a rakhi, tiny sachets of kungumam and vibhoothi, and without fail,
Cadbury Eclairs. “It’s the only chocolate that doesn’t melt,” she notes.
A native of Coimbatore, she recalls, “In 1998, there was a chain of bomb blasts in Coimbatore. I didn’t realise how serious it was because I didn’t leave my house. But my relatives and friends told me that there was blood shed in various places. I also started noticing the army’s peace keeping personnel who were stationed across the city.” As a Rotarian, she was soon equipped with the task of leading a project and she confesses to having come up with the idea of tying rakhis for the Army men stationed in her city that year. “They were protecting us and we were able to sleep peacefully. So bringing together women to tie rakhis was the only thing I could do in return to honour and thank them,” she adds.
With tears in her eyes, she recalls the moment a jawan broke down as she tied a rakhi around his wrist in 1998. She also recalls how many of them emptied their pockets in return. Her voice quivers as she says softly, “That was the moment that became my motivation to continue.”
She also recalls the first time she sent rakhis to the Wagah border and how it all came together serendipitously. Just as she was looking to ship them, an unscheduled army chopper happened to be heading there with supplies. “That’s how I knew it was meant to be,” she says. “I also stumbled initially thinking if the packets would be accepted by the Islamic and Christian brothers in the Army, but a friend from the Navy encouraged me to go ahead with it saying that they would accept it since the Indian Army has no religion,” she adds.
In the last 27 years, the number of rakhis she has shipped has increased multifold — from five hundred, to thousand five hundred, to a sweeping five thousand this year. But she had help this time around. “Over the last few years, I started making them myself. I usually start around March,” she says, adding that numerous people, from school-going children and teenagers to her 87-year-old aunt, came forward and helped her make them. Even a child with special needs made a couple of rakhis, she informs. Revathi’s husband, the head of logistics for her rakhi projects, then packs and gets them shipped to various locations, she confesses.
And what about the cost of it all? While the Rotary lends some support, much of the expense quietly comes from Revathi and her husband’s own pockets. Over the years, a few family, friends, and well-wishers, have pitched in, sometimes sponsoring materials, a shloka book or two.
But with more hands joining hers, perhaps one day Revathi can reach every jawan, so each one feels not just the thread of a rakhi, but the warmth of a gift that says, “thank you.”
If you’d like to support Revathi call 9042944171.