It's a birthday party where everyone's invited. For 605 mentally ill patients at Rinpas, Ranchi, Jharkhand's premier centre for the care of the mentally ill, Foundation Day 2015 was unique.
The day began as usual for the 388 men and 217 women inmates with an early morning bath followed by breakfast, but surprises soon began to unfold at the sprawling campus in Kanke.
The men inmates were taken to LP Verma Hall in the main Rinpas building while the women quartered some 100 yards away, boarded waiting buses that ferried them to the main building. Here, they were treated to a cultural programme, including songs, a short play depicting life at the institute, a world by itself behind high walls, which were performed by selected inmates.
After inmates sang songs and acted in the play, the performers and audience alike were treated to Barfi, a 2012 film by Anurag Basu, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz.
Though very few among Rinpas inmates understood the significance of 16th Foundation Day, the day when Jharkhand was carved out from Bihar on November 15, 2000, the event was a big hit among them, as well as doctors, nurses, caretakers and medical students.
The Sunday lunch, which like Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, normally comprises a vegetarian meal of plain rice, dal, a vegetable curry and papad, became special on Foundation Day. Inmates enjoyed a lavish spread of pulao, mutton curry, paneer, mixed vegetable, tomato chutney, papad, bundi raita and sweets.
"Foundation Day is normally not celebrated at Rinpas. But this year, though the day fell on a Sunday, our weekly holiday, we decided to do small things in the hope that they would make a difference in the lives of the mentally challenged who are shunned by society," Rinpas director in-charge Jayati Simlai said.
She added that many patients were from poor backgrounds and had never tasted success. "That's why we encouraged some inmates to display hidden talents as an extension of our occupational therapy workshops."
Should institutes for special citizens follow Rinpas's example? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com
