lohri for girls

Lohri for the girl child: Fazilka's novel, noble tradition

Raakhi Jagga
Published in The Indian Express.
Fazilka, January 11, 2010

Maya Devi, in her 30s, working as a domestic help in Fazilka, was pleasantly surprised at being honoured for giving birth to a girl. Already a mother of 4 girls, the baby girl was "the result of another chance to try for a boy". But today she had tears in her eyes when a local NGO —Sarhad Kesari — celebrated Lohri for her six-month-old Naina. She said, "I have finally decided to get my tubectomy operation done in a couple of months. No longer will I try for a boy when girls can bring such an honour."

None of her daughters — the eldest is six years old — goes to school. "But from the coming session, I will send my daughters to school. They should not suffer and should get education," she added, hopeful of "government schemes" bringing her help. Her husband, a daily wager, was too overwhelmed to say anything.

Maya Devi was not the only one who was honoured; a total of 151 parents were honoured today at Ram Palace here. The occasion was their daughters' first Lohri. As per the prevailing tradition, the first Lohri of a male child is celebrated with much fanfare in the region.

Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla, who was the chief guest, blessed the girls and appreciated the initiative of the NGO.

K K Nagpal, the man behind the initiative, said, "We started this initiative 2-3 years ago to preach that there is no difference between a boy and a girl. We announce the celebration of Lohri for girls and when the number of applicants reaches 151, we close the registration. The parents are given gifts for the kids."

"Even in the affluent class, whenever a girl is born, people don't even inform anyone, while a son's birth is celebrated with pomp and show. We want to make a difference by celebrating Lohri for the girl child," he added.

Devki, another mother whose husband is a labourer was busy opening the gifts her daughter Riya got. Riya is eight months old and is the second child of the family. Devki said,"I had a son earlier and we celebrated Lohri of our son with as much money as we could. This time, we are celebrating Riya's Lohri in a better fashion."

Rita and husband Raj Kumar were, however, not as upbeat — not because they were reluctant participants. "It is good that we have come here with our five-month-old daughter Jaya, but we won't be able to carry this tradition back home because our families are too rigid and won't agree," Kumar rued. "We will try to give the best to our daughter by educating her so that she can be self-dependent," added Rita.

Apart from people from below poverty line, local businessmen, doctors, engineers also took part. Neha Grover was one of them with her nine-month-old daughter Mannat. She said, "Such programmes inspire the society to treat girls on par with boys."

Chawla announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for Sarhad Kesari.