'Rakhi village' brightens up soldiers' day

Jalgaon, Maharashtra, Aug 28 (UNI) For the tenth year in succession, the ''Raksha Bandhan'' day was brightened up for soldiers, serving the border areas of the country, by school students here who sent colourful ''rakhis'' to them in an affectionate gesture.

The Indira Gandhi Madhyamik Vidyala at Dharangaon village in this district has been following this practice uninterrupted for the last ten years.

The tenth standard students start preparations almost a month before the festival. The girls start gathering the materials required for making ''Rakhis''. After the ''rakhis'' are prepared, the school sends them to the Artillery Centre in Nashik a week before the day to be despatched to the soldiers serving the border areas.

''We had read about a similar endeavour in the newspapers and decided that we too should start sending rakhis to the soldiers,'' Rajendra Shamrao Padol, a senior teacher in the school, told UNI.

The villagers, too, have extended all support to the school and readily provide all the materials for the venture, Mr Padol said.

He informed that the students had prepared 500 ''rakhis'' this year.

The soldiers too acknowledge the affectionate act by sending letters of gratitude. They have come to recognise Dharangaon as a ''Rakhi village'', Mr Padol said.

UNI