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R HEART U O Y S E H C T H AT T O U Y L I A D G IN AN INSPIR Vol. 1 No. 49 Pages 16 PUNE, TUESDAY JUNE 12, 2012 Rs.4 WEATHER Sunrise .....................05:58 Sunset ......................19:11 Moonrise .................00:44 Moonset ..................13:16 Temperature Min ...........................24 0c Max ...........................34 0c Rain ............................... Cloudy
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‘IT Dindee’, a group of IT professionals have been contributing in their own way for the past seven years towards trying to make the waari comfortable for the warkaris
Techies take on the Dindee M DHEERAJ BENGRUT
aharashtra, a state that has great history of saints and traditions, is also well-known for its annual Pandharpur waari. It is an unparalleled pilgrimage, breaking the barriers of caste, creed, rich and poor, starts on June 10 this year. Palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar from Alandi and Sant Tukaram from Dehu head towards Pandharpur and lakhs of pilgrims walk with the palkhi. After a walk of more than two hundred and fiftyodd kilometres over twentytwo days, these palkhis reach Pandharpur. On their way, the palkhis halt for two days in Pune. While they enter the city, one can notice a group of ‘modern warkaris’ walking with the Sant Dnyaneshwar palkhi, wearing caps, with ‘IT Dindee’ written on them. It is a group of IT professionals, trying to contribute to the society and help the warkaris in numerous ways, from last seven years. The waari has had people from all occupations except IT/BPO/Technology field professionals. “Many of us
The Waari Tradition
Colours of the world
z Last year 12 Americans, 2 Australian and 1 British student walked along with the group, to experience the Waari atmosphere z A warkari who suffered a cardiac arrest was given instant aid by the IT Dindee volunteers and his life was saved z During the warkaris’ stay in the city, volunteers visit many groups to serve the warkaris by giving a foot massage, helping with medication facilities and sometimes cooking food for them
always used to notice the waari due to either traffic diversion notices in our organizations or pictures and news in the media. I was always curious but not very sure as to whether we can be part of it or what would be the eligibility criteria,” says Rajesh Patil, an IT professional and founder of the IT Dindee group. “Then in 2006 some of us came together and decided to be part of this grand tradition. IT professionals including those of BPO/Technology sector formed a group and walked from Aalandi to Pune. We chose the name ‘IT Dindee’ as we all were mainly from the IT field,” Rajesh explains. IT Dindee volunteers walk every year from Alandi to Pune. This distance is approximately twenty-one kilometres. The
group assembles at Sri Sai Mandir at the outskirts of Alandi. This assembly begins at around five-thirty in the morning as later it becomes difficult to reach to this spot. First one hour is spent in satsang where everyone sings bhajans, after that around sixthirty, volunteers wait for the Sri Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj palakhi approaching the Sai Mandir on the main road. Once the palkhi reaches the spot, all IT Dindee volunteers pay their respect to the palkhi and start walking towards Pune along with all warkaris. “We all need to observe the utmost discipline and make sure we do not disturb the traditional palkhi norms. There is lot to learn from warkaris during this devotional march,” >>Continued on Page 5
z Waari is a holy pilgrimage in Maharashtra and its participants are called warkaris. With lakhs of people walking in the waari at a time, it is perhaps, the world’s longest pilgrimage. Remarkably, in its 700-yearold tradition no stampede or chaos has ever taken place. z The warkaris (pilgrims) are mainly farmers, with majority of them being poor. A chain of lakhs of men, women and children walking for miles continuously chanting “GyaanbaaTukaaraam” is an incredible spectacle. They walk with the sole aim of reaching Pandharpur to offer their respects to Lord Vitthal, the reincarnation of Hindu God Vishnu.
Dindee : A small group of
Aparna Kulkarni, an IT professional in Persisitent Systems is all smiles as she becomes the ‘Mauli’ during the Waari pilgrimage
warakaris is called a dindee. All dindees combined is called waari. Even after seven centuries of the waari tradition still remains strong, attracting warkaris from all corners of Maharashtra and all walks of life.
Leaving a footprint on the sands of time SOCIAL SERVICE
So often do we see barefoot children on the streets and turn a blind eye... Dr Rupali Soni did the inconceivable by providing them with a pair of decent shoes
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hat would you do if you needed a pair of shoes? Which shop would you head to get your next best pair of slippers? In this case, a young 12-year-old boy decided to skip school for a day and work at a tea stall to pay for them. This story just strengthened Dr Rupali Soni’s resolve to do something about what had been bothering her for a while. During the ‘Joy through toys’ drive conducted by the Lila Poonawala Foundation,
Barefoot children receive footwear in a social work drive
Life 365 is more than just a daily that packages `life’ in its 16 pages. It is a platform to understand your city better in terms of the good work silently being done by hundreds of good samaritans. Their stories of
how they lend an extending hand could propel you to contribute your bit to the society. In this progressive city of Pune, the desire to the serve the society is very strong, as we learnt from interaction with citizens.
Soni, a Lila fellow herself, noticed that every child they came across during this drive was barefoot. “It was shocking and saddened me beyond words. I also realised that not many of us part with our shoes unless they are completely worn-off. Thus, kids do receive clothes and food in donations but very rarely get footwear. It took me almost three months to completely understand what exactly I could do about it and how to go about it,” expressed Soni. “As a Lila fellow from the year 2001, I have watched the
Do you know of a person, a group of persons, an institute, an initiative or an activity that would inspire people or promote the larger social good? Are you one of them? Life 365 offers itself as your
art of giving unconditionally. The leadership workshops and other such programmes conducted by the Foundation have turned me into a confident individual ready to take on any challenge with robust planning, logical preparation and appropriate execution,” she continued self-assuredly. Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out. But Soni soon armed herself with a plan of action and called up Vaibhav Mogrekar, the chairperson of the ‘Aadhar Pratishthan Trust’, >>Continued on Page 5
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