A Thoughtful Takeaway

A flurry of activity preceded the 75th anniversary celebrations of Bala Mandir. At its Diamond Jubilee, in March 2024, having been set up in 1949, this august institution had weathered many a storm, but remained steadfast in its support and care of disadvantaged children. Looking back with pride on all its achievements, over the years, was a strong enough reason to celebrate, and many events and activities were planned to commemorate this landmark. Bala Mandir was agog with activity the past couple of months to facilitate seamlessly the week-long celebrations that would take place and involve the participation of  students, teachers, staff, members, donors and well-wishers. There were many people who worked tirelessly to ensure that the culminating event on the 10th March, 2024, at the Sir Mutha Hall would be flawlessly executed.

I had a call from Ms Maya, Hon. General Secretary, to come up with an appropriate gift for the Chief Guests, which would be in keeping with the philosophy of the institution. Mr Sanjay Kishen Kaul was the Chief Guest and Mrs Andal Damodaran and Mr Lars Odd Petersen were the Guests of Honour.

Traditionally, first-time guests of Bala Mandir are given a wooden key originally made at the Carpentry section of Bala Mandir which has since been shut down. The large wooden key, which also serves as a key hanger, carries the message that the  honoured guest is hitherto most welcome to enter the portals of Bala Mandir, any time he/she wishes. The gates are always open for them.  Mr N Kumar, President, Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust, had requested that along with the key, (Mr Kaul and Mrs Shivani Kaul were first-time visitors), an additional gift to honour the guests could also be given.

So this set me thinking, and along with Sushmitha’s creative ideas, we put together a hamper filled with things that we hoped would be appreciated by our guests. To begin with, we set off on a search for the hamper itself, which would represent the handicrafts of Tamil Nadu.

The narrow lanes of T Nagar are host to many interesting little shops. In a tiny little store, filled to the ceiling with artifacts from Chettinad, we found a delicately woven kottan box made of palmyra or palm leaf that would comfortably hold what we wanted to fill it with.

Into the box, went some innovative bookmarks, coasters, pouches and thorans made from recycled materials by the children of Bala Mandir, the Divya Prabandam, a collation of traditional childcare practices, which was an in-house publication, a sturdy notebook, the cover image imprinted with  the beautiful artwork (Lillies in Bloom) of Amrita, the talented granddaughter of Mr Kumar, a canister of dry fruit and a box of date confectionary made without sugar, to promote healthy eating.

We hoped that this collection of items would amply represent all things Bala Mandir stood for – its wholesome childcare practices, its high thinking and simple living, and above all else, a sense of  universal justice and  deep-seated integrity in all its actions.