It is a rakhi bond beyond boundaries. When Union Minister for Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the ‘HimIra Rakshabandhan gift boxes’ during the Performance Review Committee meeting of the Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, in New Delhi last month, Radhika Sharma and her team of Didis — Seema Sharma and Madhu Kanwar — sitting in Shimla were the happiest lot.
“Our rakhis were launched at the national level. Our joy knew no bounds,” says Radhika, 25, a young professional working with the HP State Rural Livelihood Mission under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
The news brought hope for Madhu, 31, a member of self-help group (SHG) working with NRLM. “Ab hamari rakhi door tak jayegi (Now our rakhi will go to far-off places),” she says. Seema, 43, another SHG member, is equally elated: “Ab hamari rakhi kai gharon mein hogi (Now our rakhi will be in many houses).”
Their rakhis have already been shipped to many places like Faridkot (Punjab), Faridabad (Haryana), Noida (Uttar Pradesh), Gautam Buddha Nagar (Uttar Pradesh), Gurgaon (Haryana), Delhi and Chennai (Tamil Nadu) via himira.co.in, an initiative of the Himachal Pradesh government, according to the official figures.
“We have provided an e-commerce platform for women working with self-help groups in rural areas. We are procuring and promoting their products from different districts. Now they have come up with beautiful designs of rakhi, the common thread being their creativity and sensitivity,” says Raghav Sharma, director, HP Rural Development Department.
Rakhis come in boxes containing other goodies. There are three ranges of boxes: for brother, for sister, and for bhaiya and bhabhi. “Rakhi, rakhi card and chocolate are common to all the boxes. The other contents, mainly Himachali items, vary from box to box. The price of the rakhi box ranges from Rs 428 to Rs 2,100. We are also offering up to 25 per cent discount,” says Dr Varun Mahajan, who is from KPMG India and working with the project management unit of the HP Rural Development Department.
An MA in Fine Arts, Radhika, who has designed the rakhis, explains the USP of her products: Kullu patti, the fabric used for making Kullu shawls. “We are making three kinds of rakhis: one has a swastika on it, the other has Bhai written on it, and the third one has a flower. All of them have the Kullu patti as the basis,” she says.
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Both from Beolia village near Shimla, both having a daughter each, and both having made 650 rakhis each, Madhu, who has studied up to Class 12, and Seema, who has done graduation in arts, are eagerly looking forward to boosting their brother-sister bond on August 9, the day of Rakhi festival. While Seema plans to go to her maternal place in Solan where she will catch up with her three brothers on the festival, Madhu has posted her rakhi for her brother in Kumarsain town of Shimla district. “This year, our brothers will tie our rakhis — handmade, homemade and made straight from the heart,” say the two women.
The Didis maintain they will get “more blessings from more bhaiyas” this year. “We have woven our sisterly feelings into the rakhis which will sure get brotherly love from far and wide,” says Seema.
Radhika, who is from Mandi, has customised a rakhi gift box for her brother who lives in Dubai. “My elder brother is in the IT sector. I hope he likes what I have designed,” she says.
Plans are afoot to cross more boundaries. “The rakhi campaign is part of our bigger plan to cover the entire country. We are already selling our products in more than 20 states. Every single penny that we earn under the HimIra brand goes to women only. We intend to increase their income and widen their reach,” says Shivam Pratap Singh, CEO, HP State Rural Livelihood Mission.
