Kathda, a village in Mandvi taluka of Kutch, is just like a normal village in appearance. But the Charan family residing in this village is very special.
Jashraj Charan and his entire family have been setting a fine example of humanity and compassion for the past 25 years. Yash Raj, his wife and four children contribute their own to feed the dogs of the village in the morning and evening. About 250 rotis and 6 kg of wet pudding of wheat flour are made in his house to feed the dogs every day. This family has also hired a woman to make it.
In this way, every day he uses about 25 kg of flour to feed the animals. For all these works, the Charan family happily spends 30 to 35 thousand every month.
Yash Raj has a special love for animals, he has worked in the forest department for 37 years. He used to work first as a forest guard and then as a forester. Talking to The Better India, he says, “Two of my uncles used to work in the forest department. I used to hear about animals from him in my childhood, since then I fell in love with animals. Today one of my daughters and younger son are also working in the forest department.
Yash Raj has saved many wild animals, such as nilgai, wild boar, jackal etc. from being preyed upon during his job. He retired in the year 2017, even after which he continues to help the department in preventing poaching. His daughter Sonal says, “I work as a forest guard and my father has a good knowledge of the forest. Where is the animal? Where can you be a victim? He keeps on helping me from time to time.”
feeds 300 dogs of the village
Along with the wild animals, he was also troubled by the condition of the village dogs. Due to which he started the work of feeding the dogs with rotis every day. Which suddenly started one day. Yash Raj used to go for walks every day after coming from office. One day he saw that the small children of the dog were in a very miserable condition with their mother. Since even their mother could not leave her children and go to fetch food. So she too became hungry and weak. Yash Raj bought them biscuits that day and fed them. But the next day he asked his wife to make three or four rotis. In this way he started giving them rotis every day.
Gradually the number of dogs started increasing. First four then 10 and today this process has increased to 250 rotis. Along with rotis, wet flour pudding for dogs is also made at his house. In the morning his son goes to feed the dogs with rotis, then in the evening his daughter and wife feed him pudding. At the same time, Jashraj goes to the forest every day to feed biscuits to small animals, such as rabbits, deer and jackals. For this, he also buys biscuits worth about five thousand every month.
Rotis are made by preparing a wood stove
The arrangement of making so many rotis in Jashraj’s house is handled by his wife Ramaiben Charan. Whether it is to get the flour milled from the mill or to arrange wood for burning the stove. She makes sure that the ingredients needed to make the rotis are available every day. Although earlier only his daughter used to make rotis. But as the number of rotis began to increase, he hired another woman.
Ramaiben says, “Seeing my husband’s penchant for compassion, I also decided to join him. Today my four children also help us in serving these needy people. Apart from this, I also feed flour to the ants.”
He also keeps essential medicines for animals in his house. When an animal gets minor injuries in the village, he also treats them. Ramaiben says, “We never worry about money for all these things. Instead of going on a pilgrimage or visiting a temple, etc., we consider it to be true worship to feed these voiceless. If for some reason this work is missed even for a day, then we feel very sorry.”
38-year-old Viram Gadvi from his village says, “The Charan family is an inspiration to all of us. Due to them, today along with our village, dogs of many nearby villages are getting enough food. Also, whenever he calls us for any help, we gladly help him. He has also contributed a lot in stopping hunting in the village.
All these efforts of the Charan family are truly commendable.
Editing – Archana Dubey
Also read: Everyday walks with the help of a stick and reaches the village, so that 60 needy children can be taught
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