Rakshabandhan: Sustainable rakhis lend eco sheen to brother-sister bond in Lucknow

Several non-profit organisations in the city have opted to add eco-friendly rakhis to their wares this year, in the form of rakhis made with recyclable materials

A growing preference for sustainable rakhis can be seen in the city, where not only are non-governmental organisations and associations pushing for eco-friendly rakhis, but established companies are also latching on to the trend.

Students from SSJD inter-college, Fazullaganj made over 200 rakhis to be distributed to cops, soldiers, and district education officials (HT Photo)

Several non-profit organisations in the city have opted to add eco-friendly rakhis to their wares this year, in the form of rakhis made with recyclable materials, as well as rakhis with a seed woven into the ornamentation so that they can be planted after the event.

One of the most attractive and innovative items at the Lucknow Farmers’ Market held at Habibullah Estate earlier this week were the seed-rakhis. Civil society organisation Prithvi Innovations, also had a similar idea, and has been producing and selling ‘beej-rakhis’ this Rakshabandhan season.

“We have been making and selling eco-friendly ‘beej rakhis’ for four years now, and the interest in them has noticeably increased,” said founder of Prithvi Innovations, Anuradha Gupta. The rakhis are made by the women of a self-help group that consists of underserved women from the slums around IIM Lucknow.

“Even besides the seed nestled in the centre of the rakhi, the whole thing is made from recycled items - waste wool, threads, and other recycled materials,” said Gupta. The rakhis mostly have seeds of flowering plants, sometimes vegetables as well, but the most common seeds found in the beej rakhis are of the Aparajita plant which bear purple and white flowers.

Popular gifting websites with outlets in Lucknow, like Ferns and Petals, have also taken up promoting seed rakhis which too are flying off the shelves along with the eco-friendly gift hampers including potted plants, organic foods and more.

Drishti kids make 1000+ rakhis

The children of Drishti Samajik Sansthan have been hard at work for the past two weeks, making over 1,000 rakhis to sell under their label before the day dawns.

Around 15 children from the not-for-profit shelter home for specially abled children here, have been busy spinning threads and stringing beads together to make enough rakhis. “The children look forward to this time every year, and they make the rakhis dedicatedly over 15 to 16 days,” said Shalu Singh, director of Drishti, adding that it is a tradition that started around six years ago.

“Not only that, the children also tie rakhis to each other and the staff members on Rakshabandhan and they thoroughly enjoy it,” she said.

A stall has been set up at the cafe also owned and run by Drishti Samajik Sansthan, D Cafe, where the rakhis are being sold. Additionally, they are also shipping bulk orders for the handmade rakhis, placed directly with the NGO as well.

So far, they have sold around 400 rakhis made by the children. “We bring the materials like the nylon threads and ornaments from Delhi, and the children make the rakhis with training and help from our staff members,” shared Shalu Singh. All profits made from the sale of rakhis goes towards the children of the shelter home.

Schoolkids make rakhis for soldiers, cops

As many as 200 students of Shyam Sundar Jamudeen Inter-college in Faizullaganj made rakhis in school, under the guidance of their director JP Mishra, and other staff members. “The children have made over 200 rakhis and we will be distributing them across police chowkis, as well as to certain basic education department officials,” said principal of SSJD inter-college Yogendra Kumar Mishra. They will be distributing rakhis at the police stations at Keshav Nagar, Madiyaon, Faizullaganj, and Shivlok among a few others. “We also plan to mail a set of rakhis to Army Post Offices in Kolkata and New Delhi,” he said.