Maha Couple Requests Books as Wedding Gifts, Sets Up Library For Needy Kids!

They wanted to make their wedding ceremony stand out, and make it a remarkable day for themselves as well as others who are not as privileged as they are. So they took inspiration from their own past experiences and decided to make their wedding the perfect spot to collect books!

Meet Amar and Rani Kalamkar, a couple who firmly believes in the power of books. Amar has been an active social worker for 15 years now and runs an NGO called Yuva Chetna. He always dreamed of opening a library for needy children who want to appear for competitive exams, but do not have the means to prepare for them.

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Rani, who is a professor of Economics at a university in Pune agreed with Amar’s idea of intertwining social work with their wedding ceremony.

“A lot of people in rural Maharashtra neither have the means to afford the books nor the resources to locate them otherwise,” Amar told News 18, adding that

“Competitive exams are hard, but finding the right books for these exams is even harder.”

And so, in their wedding invitation, Amar and Rani requested their guests to gift them a book for competitive exams instead of bouquets that go waste after the ceremony, expensive cutlery or jewellery.

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“We didn’t send out printed wedding invites; we just forwarded the invitation to our friends on WhatsApp,” Amar said. “Somehow that got circulated, and people we didn’t know also came forward with books. They found our request unique but substantial, and wanted to contribute,” he added.

This special request resulted in the couple collecting about 3000 books!

The couple is now trying to set up a library in Ahmednagar where underprivileged kids or those who don’t have access to academic resources can come to the library and study. The library is all set to open by the end of this month, and interested students are already contacting them with inquiries!

The Kalamkars are indeed an inspiration for those who want their special day to be a bit ‘hatke’, and what better place to ignite a social service than a wedding, where hundreds come together to celebrate!

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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