Neeraj Jain, a passionate stamp collector, an achiever
Fire walking to propitiate goddess in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh
Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh), Sept 30: The devotees walked on fire to propitiate the divinities at the 'Nalchamata' Temple in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.
The age-old ritual is performed by the devotees with enthusiasm every year, during the festival of 'Dussehra'
This year too, a ditch, four feet wide and 12 feet long, was dug in the temple premises, and filled with burning embers.
Amidst festivities, devotees ran through the fire with bare feet, and walked out without a scratch. They humbly owe it to the power of the Goddess.
Fire walking is a ceremonial practise performed by certain sects of Hinduism, as an expression of faith or as a form of penance.
In Mandsaur, the ritual is performed as 'Dussehra' festivities begin after 'Navami', the ninth day of the 'Navaratri' festival. (ANI)
Women whipped to get rid of evil spirits during Tamil Nadu festival
Namakkal (Tami Nadu), Sep.30: Believe it or not, thousands of women, including young and the aged, converge at Namakkal to attend the annual festival at the Sri Achappan temple of Pavitram Vellalapatti to get whipped.
The women undergo the lashing following an old belief that it would free them of evil spirits and physical ailments.
The ritual is performed on the occasion of Vijayadashmi as per the Hindu almanac. The temple priest whips the women devotees.
According Kulla Goudan, the priest at the Sri Achappan temple, the ritual has been in vogue for centuries as is evident from thousands of devotees gathering here to get rid of their problems.
Thousands of devotees converge during this festival from various places.
"Basically, this is a ghost-festival, which is followed for early marriage and to cure people with health problems such as mental retardation, mental tension and unmerciful life, etc," said Kulla Goudan, priest, Sri Achappan temple, Pavitram Vellalapatti, Tamil Nadu.
"The belief is that if one follows this ritual then all the problems will come to an end," said Goudan.
The women say the worshipping gives them relief.
"I have been following this ritual for years now. Actually, this is a ghost-festival where we get beaten up by the priest and all our problems vanish," said Radhika, one of the devotees.
This year around 10,000 devotees converged on this occasion for the festival which concluded on Tuesday.
Prisoner takes up literary pursuit, writes religious books in Gwalior Jail
Gwalior, Sep 29: Hari Singh Sikarvar, a prisoner serving a life term for murder at the Gwalior Central Jail, has resorted to the well-known mode of reforming himself by indulging in academic and literary pursuits.
However, Sikarvar's literary endeavours are not just reading academic books and appearing for graduation test, but has also been writing religious books.
Not being a fully literate person, he learnt the basics at the school within the jail and later studied different Hindu scriptures on which he has written extensive commentaries.
Sikarvar has been behind the bars for the past 12 years and over this period he has mastered basic literacy and succeeded in composing 1700 verses, which can be compiled into 38 books.
Among his writings are simplified versions of Hanuman Chalisa and Srimad Bhagwad Gita.
"I have re-written the 'Gita' in simplified language in the form of a poem. People find it hard to understand the Sanskrit verses of the Gita. So, I decided to rewrite it. So far I have written 18 chapters in simplified language," Sikarvar said.
He further said that the jail authorities have been most helpful and enabled him to receive a formal education that he had missed during his childhood days.
Sikarvar's writings have been well appreciated by the jail officials and they are looking forward to publish some of his compilations.
"According to Hari, he has never received a formal education for many reasons. But, in the prison, he got ample time to study in the school situated inside the prison premises. The jail officials also encouraged him to write more and supported him throughout by providing all the necessary things required in his writing," said S. S. Kushwah, Senior Deputy Superintendent of Gwalior Central Jail.
Expressing happiness at Sivarkar's perseverance, Kushwah mentioned that his achievements must be emulated by other inmates of the prison as an ideal mode of reforming oneself. (ANI)
Neeraj Jain, a passionate stamp collector, an achiever
By Ravinder Singh Robin
Amritsar, Sep 27: Neeraj Jain, a passionate stamp collector from Punjab's Amritsar district, boasts of some of the rare stamps that were issued in the country and continues to carry on with his passion despite reeling global slow down and recession.
Jain, who works as a team leader in a private shopping mall, had started collecting stamps from a very early age of thirteen and has continued with his passion since then. He has so far collected 1,50,000 million Indian stamps, which include the 2100 stamps issued after independence.
"In my childhood, I met some collectors who inspired me by and guided me in my effort to collect stamps. The government issues stamps of value Rs.1200 in a year. And, if you collect a minimum of four stamps it will cost you about Rs.5,000," Jain said.
"Besides the collection, the cost of preserving the stamps is very high, as there are chances of their getting damaged. You have to spend at least Rs.2500 to buy accessories to preserve the stamps. I have a century-old stamp in a very good condition as I have preserved it properly," he added.
In his possession he has a variety of are stamps that were issued in 1947, and he also boasts of possessing a total of 1200 rare stamps.
"If you remember, a question was asked in Kaun Banega Crorepati for Rs. one million on what was the logo on the first stamp of India. It was a flag. A new stamp has been released recently, so now I have a collection of total 1200 rare stamps," Jain said.
"Moreover I have a multiple variety of stamps that I like most. In total I have a collection of around 150,000 stamps, which are rarely found in any small post office," he added.
Jain's passion can be understood from the fact that he spent Rs.6,000 to get hold of a gold stamp that was recently by the Government.
"Once I went to a post office for some work, I heard somebody talking about gold series of stamps. I asked the person about it and collected more information through Internet. I got to know that a total of 25 stamps were going to be released," Jain said.
"And, they would issue one stamp in a month. The stamp costs Rs.6,000 and the cost of entire collection is Rs. 1,50,000. So, I made up my mind and ordered a stamp. I felt very happy when I received it. It's not easy for a middle class man to afford such expensive stamps," he added.
Among the great collection that Jain possesses is the stamp of 'Radha Krishna' painting, which dates back to May 1973, and gold and silver coins launched at the silver and golden jubilee of the Independent India. (ANI)
