KARUR: Tying the thread of love around a brother’s wrist is a small gesture wishing him good on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. That gesture becomes a lot more significant when the receivers are the heroes guarding our borders, reminding them that their siblings are grateful for their sacrifices. Now, a special touch has been added to the rakhis — words of wisdom imparted by poet-saint Thiruvalluvar.
A private school in Karur has sent around 13,000 handmade rakhis — including ones printed with Tirukkural — to soldiers patrolling the borders in Kashmir and Ladakh. Last year, the school, Bharani Park Institutions, managed to send a whopping 1 lakh rakhis to the soldiers. However, hampered by Covid, they could not meet a similar target.
“Yet, we managed to send 13,000 pieces to the borders,” says senior principal of the school C Ramasubramanian. The initiative was undertaken by 90 members, comprising teachers and scout volunteers. “We have been doing this for four years on a row,” says Ramasubramanian. “Thousands of Tamil rakhis were sent to the brave warriors, through MP Tarun Vijay’s ‘Rakhis for Soldiers’ campaign.
We sent 15,000 in the first year, 25,000 the second year and a lakh the third year.” All rakhis were sent to Vijay in Delhi, who later handed them over to the Defence Minister. These rakhis sent from Tamil Nadu every year are a symbolic representation of our love, and respect to the Indian Armed Forces.” Sudhadevi, a teacher volunteer, said, “We feel proud to participate in this event.”