Bathinda, January 11
This was a rare moment for those who were present yesterday at the bhog ceremony of 105-year-old Durgi Devi, who had died on January 1, when two women, Dhan Kaur (48), a resident of Ludhiana, and Manjit Kaur Gardiwala (47), a resident of Kalra village in Hoshiarpur district, witnessed the bhog ceremony with the eyes of Durgi Devi, as the cornea of her eyes had been transplanted in their eyes.
On the occasion, both women expressed their gratitude to Durgi Devi. They also thanked the family members for donating her eyes, through whose eyes they were now able to see. Her family members donated Durgi Devi’s eyes on January 2, especially her son Sadhu Ram Kusla, assistant project officer (APO) in the Bathinda District Rural Development Agency (DRDA). On that day, the Bareta unit of Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP) had collected the eyes to transplant the cornea to other persons’ eyes.
Appreciating the efforts of the Bareta BVP, the people who participated in the bhog ceremony, donated about Rs 22,000 on the spot. It is worth mentioning here that the Bareta BVP had so far collected eyes of 510 deceased persons and had got transplanted the cornea in other persons’ eyes to provide eye sight to them.
Besides donation of eyes, the family also broke an age-old tradition on January 2, when the daughters of Durgi Devi lit the pyre of their mother. The family of Durgi Devi has also set up “Mata Durgi Devi Charitable Trust” at Kusla village, especially for encouraging rural girls to continue their studies.
