Tihar is renowned as the Festival of lights and joy. Every year, Bikalpa has been celebrating this occasion by organizing “Deusi Bhailo program”- a traditional folk custom with an aim to raise funds for the public library housed at Bikalpa’s resource center. This initiative has been continued for 7 years now as youths gather and sing “Deusi” and “Bhaili” songs while also dancing as they are hosted by generous donors.
Through the initiatives, we have collected more than 2000 books and related materials for the public library in the last 7 years. It is indeed a great resource for students and avid readers, and we have over a hundred active subscribers. Bikalpa’s library is also a good resource center where you can read, discuss, and most importantly network with other readers.
This year the Deusi Bhailo program was celebrated on 3rd of November, 2021. Bikalpa Fellowship members organized the program that lasted from 7:30 am in the morning to 9:30 pm in the evening. 27 youths from diverse background come together to celebrate this event. In all, the group that also comprised of musicians and singers were hosted by 9 households and collected Rs, 13,500 in cash and 21 books. Many of the donors have also pledged to support with more books in future as the team was unable to reach out to many other households.
Despite being a normal cultural event, a lot of planning goes into organizing such an event. The volunteers have to go through a few days of rigorous rehearsals to finalize the songs, identify and finalize the list of donors and manage the logistics of transporting such a large group and equipment. Finally, the event is itself long and requires a lot of stamina to get through.
However, the passion of group and the legacy that this fundraising has left behind has always motivated the youths to pull off the event in grand style every year (expect for 2020, when the event was cancelled due to the increasing Covid-19 cases). This program has helped many youths acquire organizational skills over the years. We are thankful to all the volunteers, donors and supporters for the active involvement and help over the years.
