Chhanda Rani Panda with the women
Bhubaneswar: For the inmates of Gandhi Shanti Niwas, a leprosy colony, at Janla, who had been deserted by their family members and village after they got the disease, Chhanda Rani Panda from Bhubaneswar’s Khandagiri locality is like their mother.“They call me ‘Maa’ and I love to hear the word coming from them,” said 48-year-old Panda.After finding themselves outcast from society, the women took shelter in Gandhi Shanti Niwas, where they found their new family in Panda, a govt employee.On cold winter nights, they find comfort in blankets provided by Panda, and during festivals, they relish her gifts. In return, they bestow good wishes on her.“If they want anything, they call me, and I try to help them as per my financial capacity,” she said.On Saturday as the city celebrated Sabitri Puja, when families traditionally gift ‘Sabitri Saja’ to married women, Panda ensured no one is left out.For the past four years, the govt employee has been quietly reaching out to these underprivileged women with the ‘Sabitri Saja’, comprising sarees, bangles, vermilion and fruits needed for Sabitri Puja or Sabitri Brata — becoming, in many ways, the family they no longer have.This year she distributed the ‘Saja’, which she personally selects, to 38 women of the colony on Friday. “I had a profound fondness for sarees. I had been purchasing costly sarees for Sabitri Brata — as part of which married women fast and pray for the longevity, health and prosperity of their husbands. After meeting these women, I decided to purchase ‘Sabitri Saja’ for them by bringing down my Sabitri Puja cost drastically. Now even my family members cannot complain that I spend extra for the noble work,” laughs Panda, a mother of two.“They need our love and affection. Our small gestures of help and kindness can make them happy. People should not hate them,” she said.Panda recalled she was busy in election duty during the time of Sabitri Puja in 2024. “The women from the colony thought that I will not give them the ‘Sabitri Saja’. But I managed to provide them with the Sabitri Saja a day before the festival. They call me ‘Maa’ and I love to hear the word coming from them,” said Panda, adding they also mean it.“I had a health issue a few years ago. These people prayed a lot for my health. Finally, I recovered without any complication. I feel their prayer worked for me. They are pure souls,” she said.
