Hema Malini to work for Vanvasis

Twelve crore Vanvasis of the country have now got a new voice—the voice that is heard not only in India but the world over. And the voice is none other than the noted film actress Hema Malini. The Bollywood icon has associated herself with the cause of Vanvasis and is soon going to the US for raising funds for thousands of single-teacher schools being run in Vanvasi areas across the country.

After performing the Radha-Krishan nritya natika, organised by Shri Hari Satsang Samiti, Indraprastha, at the packed Talkatora stadium in New Delhi on December 19, Hema Malini said Shri Hari Satsang Samiti and Vanbandhu Parishad had been rendering the yeoman’s services to Vanvasis and she had been associated with the organisation for the last 4-5 years. She further said the 12 crore Vanvasis of the country were languishing in the remote areas without even the basic facilities. “The Samiti and the Vanbandhu Parishad are performing very well on the front of providing education to Vanvasis,” she said and added that she would soon stage a show in the US to raise funds for the Ekal Vidyalayas. She appealed to the audience assembled at the stadium to generously donate for the cause of Vanvasis. “The money donated to these organisations is honestly spent for the welfare of Vanvasis,” she said further appealing to the people to extend a helping hand to their own brethren who were languishing in the remote areas, away from the light of development and modernity.

The nritya natika performed by Hema Malini and her team of more than 20 artists completely moved the audience so much that despite the fact that the function began about two and a half hours late, they sat patiently and stayed till the function was over. Hema Malini performed as Radha and Rahul D’Suja as Shri Krishna. Noted industrialist and MP Shri Navin Jindal inaugurated the function. Besides Hema Malini, noted international bhajan singer Shri Vinod Aggarwal and leading artist and singer Baba Satyanarayan Maurya also impressed the audience with bhajans and patriotic songs on December 20 and 21 respectively. Bharat Maa ki Aarti by Shri Maurya infused a feeling of patriotism into the audience. Shri Aggarwal and Shri Maurya also lauded the services being rendered by the Samiti in Vanvasi areas.

Shri Hari Satsang Samiti is an organisation fully dedicated to the cause of preserving and promoting cultural and religious traditions of Vanvasis. The Samiti has been trying to bring Vanvasis back to the mainstream by organising Ramkatha and Bhagwat katha among them. With a view to strengthening the religious feelings among Vanvasis, the Samiti is developing Vanvasi boys and girls as kathakars who, after a six-month training imparted at Vrindavan and Ayodhya, go to their native areas and narrate Ramkatha and Bhagwat katha in their own languages. So far more than 900 such kathakars have been imparted with the training. The Samiti aims at sending 5,000 kathakars in at least one lakh Vanvasi villages by the end of 2006.

Besides Shri Hari Kathakar Yojna, the Samiti also runs a Video Rath Yojna. Under this project, a small truck is decorated in the form of a temple fitted with a video projector. The chariot moves to four to five villages everyday.

The Samiti has also launched a Ramsadhak Yojna. Under the scheme, the village boys and girls are prepared to work for the uplift of their people. On the occasions of Ramnavami and Janmashtami, thousands of such Ramsadhaks will visit the villages and present the picture of Shri Ram, a locket of Om, a Hanuman Chalisa, etc. to the people. The Samiti aims to prepare at least 80,000 Ramsadhaks by the end of the year 2006.