Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi: Indira Gandhi tied Rakhi on her brother’s wrist in Gwalior. IG News

Gwalior. Naiduniya Representative. You know that the brother of Indira Gandhi, who was the first woman Prime Minister of the country, was a resident of Gwalior, to whom she tied Rakhi every year after coming to Gwalior. Yes, it is so. We are talking about Pt. Ramsevak Azad of Gwalior who was a soldier of Azad Hind Army and State President of Congress Seva Dal. Indira Gandhi considered him as her brother and from 1965-66 till the time former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was alive, she kept tying Raksha Sutra on the wrist of Pandit Ramsevak.

Actually it started when former Prime Minister Nehru died in 1964. Indira was in the Seva Dal and she was going to be a part of active politics. She had organized a meeting with Seva Dal workers, in which she had come to Gwalior to attend. This incident was shared with writer and poet Dr. Bhagwan Swaroop Sharma alias Chaitanya Naiduniya, nephew of Pt. Ramsevak Azad. Mr. Chaitanya says that I must have been 8 to 10 years old when Indira first came to Gwalior.

The event was held on the fence

Mr. Chaitanya says that the State President of Seva Dal, Pt. Ramsevak Azad had a big stature in the Congress at that time. Even the central leaders could not avoid his talk. That’s why Indira started her politics from Gwalior. Pt. Ramsevak Azad had a lot of influence in the Congress. Second, she wanted to associate the Scindia family with her. That’s why he held a meeting of Seva Dal workers in Gwalior. At that time it was the festival of Rakhi. A stage was set up in front of the bell tower on the enclosure, where Indira Gandhi while addressing the workers sought cooperation. When Pt. Ramsevak Azad promised to give full cooperation to Indira on behalf of the workers, Indira Gandhi at the same time tied a rakhi on Pt. Ramsevak Azad’s wrist saying that today I have found a brother.

During the State period, the women of the village used to tie rakhi to the army.

Shri Chaitanya says that the festival of Rakhi has been celebrated with great enthusiasm in Gwalior. My grandfather used to tell, when the villages around Gwalior were inhabited during the State period. On the day of Rakhi, the women of the village used to come to tie Rakhi to the king’s army. At that time, these army soldiers used to promise to protect their sisters from dacoits and miscreants. On Raksha Bandhan, the sisters and daughters of the village used to tie rakhi to all the men of the village and people sit in a row and get rakhi tied. Here men also used to tie rakhi to each other and promise to protect them. At that time grain was given as a gift.

Competitions were held during the festival

84-year-old litterateur Prakash Chandra Mishra says that competitions used to take place on the festival of Raksha Bandhan from city to village. Swings were put on the mango tree. There were competitions for who could swing the swing faster. Apart from this, competitions of sports like shooting, fencing, wrestling, kabaddi, kho-kho etc. were organized. People from the surrounding villages used to participate in this. The era of competitions lasted till 1990 and then gradually stopped.