In South India, millions celebrated ‘Saraswathi Puja’ or ‘Ayudha Puja’ i.e. day of prayer for the ‘instruments of livelihood’ on Monday, October 23rd and ‘Vijaya Dasami’ – the day of new and fresh beginnings for attainment of personal targets on Tuesday, October 24th. In order for FIN staff to celebrate these functions in their homes on these respective days, Ayudha Puja was performed on last Saturday and Sunday itself in the FIN Rural Lab at Kameswaram village.
The Green Demos and Child Education Project team, Meena madam, Nagalaxmi madam and Ranjita madam cleaned everything in the office inside out and placed the books, tools and other essentials of their work in front of the deities. Paranjothi sir, our field manager, bought all the necessary materials for the celebration. They had invited women organic farmers and teachers from Anganwadis (creches ) and the schools where FIN intervenes and the Sanitation animator Ms. Vijaya, who had also brought along with her three female members of the village waste management team. Everyone came on time and the event was finished on time! From 2 PM to 3 PM. This is quite an achievement for any function in India! There were nine women and five men invitees. The chief guest, Kamraj sir, who is ward councillor and village ombudsman, said the prayers. He broke the traditional coconut and sought the blessings of the higher forces for a good continuation. Then everyone had the wonderful refreshments made by the ladies.
The Computer Education team, Amutha madam and Ranjita madam, similarly did deep cleaning of the Training Centre for the Ayudha puja celebrations. All the laptops were dusted and blessings were sought for the success of the classes and the long life of all our computers, which are used second-hand computers as we operate on a small budget. The function started at 10.30 AM and lasted till noon. The chief guest was Kameswaram Panchayat President Ms. Jayasudha Ganesan and her husband. All 24 students of the first, second, third and fourth batches of computer typing classes were invited. Paranjothi Sir and the chief guest broke the coconut for the celebration. Chocolates and savories were served as refreshments. Everyone left happy and satisfied.
