We girls have the easier job during Rakshabandhan. All we have to do is buy a gaily coloured rakhi, while our brothers have to hunt for the perfect gift for us that year – and we sure aren’t easy to please, are we?
When their minds aren’t able to focus on a brilliant idea for a gift, these guys just throw in the towel and buy the regular stuff – clothes, jewellery, sweets or just plain money (and lots of it!). But one brother in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh went beyond the regular run-of-the-mill gifts to give his sister something unforgettable, something she’ll cherish forever – a toilet.
Sure, this is something you will never find on sale at Zara, but if you have ever lived or camped out in a rural area with no toilet facilities and you were forced to visit the fields everyday at night to relieve yourself, then you will understand just how precious this gift is. And this was his cousin, to whom he gifted a toilet.
Mahendra Rawat spent about Rs.35,000 on the construction of a toilet for his cousin, Rani in Bhatoa village of MP, which has about 225 women and not even a single toilet.
Rani, who lives near Mahendra’s house, is a class VIII student and was scared to go out in the night to relieve herself. Open defecation for women in villages is fraught with danger; there is the risk of snake bites in the dark, animal attacks, rape, molestation and even murder.
Mahendra thought it would be easier for her if she had a toilet just next to her house, and he began the construction. But that’s easier said than done, because this village doesn’t even have running water in pipelines yet.
So Mahendra started by drawing water through an electric pump from the well which is located about 600 meters from the location of the toilet. He spent about Rs.20,000 on bringing water to the toilet. The thoughtful brother that he is, he built an overhead tank there and even a washbasin outside the bathroom.
We women love to own things and have gifts that stand out from everybody else’s. Well, this one truly does. Rani today can proudly claim that she is the only girl in the village with a toilet in her house. Are diamonds still a girl’s best friend? I think not.
Image Courtesy: The Daily Eye.info
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