The cover of Kastur Ba Ni Kotadi E Thi, a magazine by women prisoners may not tell the reader about the tumultuous lives they live behind bars. But leafing through the pages will give the reader glimpses into their exiled existence and the agony of having to live away from their family for years together - an experience that is bound to leave readers teary-eyed.
In a cultural programme conducted under the aegis of Jaswant Thakar Memorial Foundation, Kastur Ba Ni Kotadi E Thi, the foundation's magazine was inaugurated by PC Thakur on Sunday.
The programme was co-ordinated by theatre artists Aditi Desai, the managing trustee of the foundation, who was accompanied by Raksha Nayak, Shubra Anmola and Runki Mukharjee.
The magazine will be published every three months and will soon be distributed to almost all the women prisoners of the state by
the state's prisons department.
Talking to DNA, additional director general of police, prisons department, said that the department has been conducting many activities to rehabilitate the prisoners of the state and Kastur Ba Ni Kotadi E Thi will provide a platform for the women prisoners to develop their imaginations.
"Besides poems, the magazine contains other writings like letters written by women prisoners to their families," said Desai. Talking about the magazine, well-known writer Swaroop Dhruv said that Kastur Ba Ni Kotadi E Thi has the potential to carve a niche in Gujarati literature. Citing the examples of Jawaharlal Nehru, Dhruv said that The Discovery of India, one of Nehru's best works, was produced from the prison.
Desai said, "The magazine is the result of our hard work of three months. We have been able to achieve this with the help of cultural mediums." The event conducted at the end of the three-month training provided to the women prisoners by the trust, also saw solo dance recitals, poetry recitations apart from drama and group dances.
Trustee of Jaswant Thakar Memorial Foundation, Gagan Shethi, along with the superintendent of Sabarmati Jail, RJ Parghi attended the programme.
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