'Vahi handi' on Gokulashtami Gokulashtami was celebrated with great pomp in the suburbs. Some unique celebrations like organising a vahi handi and the one celebrated by visually impaired students set a new note for revelry
Manoj Badgeri Govindas from Vangani form a pyramid to break the vahi (note-book) handi . Gokulashtami or dahi handi was celebrated with much pomp and grandeur in the suburbs on last Sunday, August 24. There were several dahi handi prizes and attractions set up all over the suburbs with breath-taking prize money offered. Several govindas, who have been gearing up to form human pyramids in various mandals across the suburbs, showed their agility and vigor as they competed to break the coveted pots of curds. While at one end there were incidents of minor brawls reported in the suburbs, the celebration of the festival also witnessed some special moments celebrated by visually challenged students. The high point of the dahi handi celebrations was the 'vahi handi' that was organized in Vangani where notebooks and textbooks were distributed as goodies along with the dahi handi. The Yuvak Mitra mandal that was in the second year of organising such an event distributed slates, pencils and notebooks to around 1,111 children. Those from Ulhasnagar form a five tier to break the handi Around 20-25 students from the National Association of Blind institute joined together to celebrate the festival within their campus. The visually challenged students formed two tiers to break the handi amidst cheers from fellow students and staff and to the accompaniment of music. A rattle was tied on the rope near the handi and every time a pyramid was formed one of the members would shake the rope. The govindas would identify the location of the handi from the noise of the rattle. "The best part of the celebration was that all the participants were visually challenged and took no help from their friends or teachers," informed a witness to the celebrations. In Thane district, the police received over 1,700 requests came from organisers from across Kalyan-Dombivli, Ambernath and Badlapur. As compared to last year there weren't any major instances of injuries reported during the festival. Thankfully, despite the terror threats predicted during the festive season, the day passed off without any reports of violence in the two suburbs as the police had reportedly done their homework days before the festival. regards, prateek agarwal. cell: 09928341197 e-mails: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- you can visit my website for lots of stuff related to visually impaired and others please go on to www.prateekagarwal.webs.com Join Access India convention: For updates on it visit: http://accessindia.org.in/harish/convention.htm Registration is now open! To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
