The rakhis would reach the prime minister’s office on Friday. (File)
Mathura:
Widows living in Vrindavan, who reportedly miss meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Raksha Bandhan due to the COVID-19 outbreak, sent him 501 handmade rakhis and as many face masks, an NGO said on Thursday.
The special rakhis have images of the Prime Minister on them while the masks have been themed over the temple city of Vrindavan with messages such as “Stay safe” and “Aatmnirbhar” written on them.
Until last year, some widows had visited the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi to tie the rakhi to his wrist, but this year they will not meet it due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NGO said. Sulabh Hope Foundation, which supports these women in a statement.
The rakhis would reach the prime minister’s office on Friday, two days before Raksha Bandhan, a Hindu festival that symbolically requires brothers to take care of their sisters, the foundation said.
Chhabi Dasi, 75, who personally linked rakhi to the prime minister last year, said spending days in her ashram over the past five months had slightly discouraged her, but making rakhi and masks made her happy. .
“I have personally designed special masks with messages such as ‘Stay safe’ and ‘Atmanirbhar’ and rakhis with the images of Modi ji on them,” she said, according to the statement.
The rakhis were prepared by a group of elderly widows living in the “Maa Sharda” and “Meera Sagabhagini” ashrams in the temple city of Vrindavan.
Earlier, on behalf of thousands of widows, four-five of them traveled to Delhi to present baskets of rakhi and candy to Prime Minister Modi, but this practice is said to be halted this year due to a pandemic, a declared the vice-president of the foundation, Vinita Verma.
“The current coronavirus crisis has discouraged these widows, but it has not broken their spirits, so they have started to prepare special Vrindavan themed rakhis and masks for the prime minister,” she added. .
