JM Financial Foundation’s Haldi-Kumkum ceremony

Pune, Jan 26: JM Financial Foundation (JMFF), the CSR arm of JM Financial Group, organised a Haldi-Kumkum ceremony for the Covid-widowed mothers, and their children, on January 14, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, at Pune. The initiative is a spin-off of JM Financial Shiksha Samarthan, a nationwide CSR project launched by JMFF to offer financial aid for school education (up to grade 12) to children who have lost one/both parents to Covid. Of the invited 166 beneficiary mothers in and around Pune region, 64 participated in the Haldi-Kumkum ceremony.

The idea of organizing this ceremony was born last year, when on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, the mothers stayed silent in response to festive wishes on a virtual communication platform. When asked, one of them shared that a festival that once signified happiness, prosperity, and above all, the pride in being a married woman, is now an occasion for others in society to look at them differently. Without their husbands, these women face socio-cultural isolation, visible when they are no longer invited to participate in Haldi-Kumkum, or are expected to dress differently, compared to married women. To this effect, even their children (our project-supported students) feel the difference, without necessarily understanding the deep-rooted social bias that drives this differentiation. The celebration of Haldi-Kumkum, while organized with a simple objective of bringing joy to the mothers, has paved the path for an intense reformation in our socio-cultural approach towards women who have lost their husbands.

The day began with JMFF representatives acknowledging the immense strength shown by the mothers in facing life’s challengess, followed by the traditional rituals. Accompanied by their mothers, 89 children also frolicked around, with the games, music and dance organized by the Foundation. The mothers also danced with abandon, something that is now a privilege for them.

Commenting on the initiative, one of the project representatives from JM Financial Foundation said, “In the process of supporting children’s education, our team got deeply involved with the surviving families, especially the mothers. What started as phone-calls and meetings to guide them with our processes, transcended very organically into a safe space, where the mothers could share their grief and we could offer some strength. Our support goes beyond offering financial aid for education to children and attempts to helping their mothers become independent – emotionally and financially. The goal of organising programmes like the Haldi-Kumkum ceremony is to help them realise that they are not alone. Together, they can find strength in themselves and each other, to face some of the toughest of life’s challenges.”