Cover of the book Jari Gotaiba Jhia

Balasore, April 1: The Jari Gotaiba Jhia (rag-picking girl) turned 15 yesterday with eminent personalities from different walks of life attending the “birthday party”. But what was unusual about the celebration was the fact that the Jari Gotaiba Jhia is an anthology of poems by bank employee Prashant Das.

Interestingly, Das, a senior assistant of a cooperative bank in Balasore, does not celebrate the birthday of his only child, Priti Krishna, but ensures that a grand function is organised every year on March 31 – the day his book was released.

“About 16 years ago, I was on my way to office when I saw a young girl in tattered clothes picking rag on the roadside. I observed her for some time. She was consciously trying to cover the exposed portions of her body, while doing her job. I was so moved by the situation that I decided to pen down a poem on her,” said Das, who in his fifties.

Like previous years, this time too, Das had invited several eminent personalities to attend his book’s birthday party where there were cakes, candles, balloons and festoons.

“Though my daughter’s birthday is not celebrated on the day she was born, we do it on the book’s anniversary. I gift her a new dress and she cuts cakes along with other children,” said Das.

Priti, who studies in Class XI, said she had no qualms about celebrating her birthday in this “symbolic” manner.

“Rather, I feel happy this way since it means so much to my father,” she said.

The book consisting of 90 pages is a collection of 33 poems, with the one on the rag-picking girl being the last. It is, however, not up for sale but distribution among persons with a philanthropic bent of mind, who understand the plight and distress of the rag pickers. So far, Das has distributed nearly 800 of the 1,000 copies printed.

Author Prashant Das

Apart from writing poems and short stories, Das edits a literary magazine Ei Pari Aama Samparka during his leisure time. He is also associated with several social and philanthropic organisations.

District judge, S.K. Patnaik, who was one of the invitees, said that this kind of celebration “awakens and enriches one’s compassion towards the less fortunate and demands commitment towards them.”

Another guest, Balasore superintendent of police, Rajesh Kumar said: “This function sensitises people, who are well-off, that they have a duty towards people who are deprived of basic facilities.”

The author has big plans for the book’s 18th birthday.

“I have decided that I would pick up one girl rag picker from the streets and, if she wishes, arrange her marriage in a good family. It would be solemnised on the day the book turns 18. I have set aside Rs 20,000 for the purpose and would raise more money for the marriage through donations.”