A girl with her new found brother at the bhaiphonta ceremony at Korak in Jalpaiguri. Picture by Biplab Basak

Siliguri, Oct 24: Fifteen-year-old Mousumi Rakshit of Siliguri and 10-year-old Zahida Khatun of Jalpaiguri may not be as lucky as other children, but they celebrated bhaiphonta all the same.

Ten mentally-challenged girls of Siliguri-based Anubhab Crèche Centre went to Chetana Leprosy Centre at Darjeeling More to spend the day with their “brothers” there. Even the of Anubhab — a home for destitute in Jalpaiguri — also joined their brothers at Sriguru Child Welfare Home, in the same town.

“Leprosy patients and mentally-challenged children are usually not accepted in the society. We have around 78 challenged children with us and we decided to bring them together with leprosy patients and their children on this occasion,” said Pradeep Dasgupta, the general secretary of Anubhab Crèche Centre in Siliguri. “All of them seemed to have lots of fun together.”

Their counterparts in Jalpaiguri enjoyed a lunch together, followed by a screening of Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne in the afternoon, as Jalpaiguri Welfare Organisation arranged the programme.

“It was a totally different day for us. We sang and danced together, had lunch and even saw a film,” said Mintu Sarkar, a resident of Sriguru. “We have never had such an opportunity before.”

Sanjoy Chakrobarty, the secretary of the welfare organisation, said: “The boys and girls at the two homes are mostly orphans while some of them had been rescued by police,” Chakrobarty said. “To add some joy to their lives and give them a feel of a family, we decided to have the bhaiphonta.”

For Sadam Hussain, Roni, Mrinal and Hafiz — all residents of Korak, a government-run home for destitute boys in Jalpaiguri, it was also a day of fun and making new friends, rather sisters.

Dressed in colourful clothes and armed with gifts, sweets and barandalas, little girls, mostly residents of Racecourse Para in Siliguri, arrived at the home early in the morning.

The arrangement was made by Spandan, a local NGO, as its members confirmed that this was the second year that they were organising bhaiphonta at Korak.

“Last year, we decided that we would organise the programme at the home every year,” said Ratan Majumdar, the secretary of Spandan.