Convicts to dive deep into bhakti with songs for palkhis

Pune: Six teams of convicts from across the state are set to display their singing skills to the heads of two palkhi organisations at a function in Yerawada jail next week.These convicts are a part of 350 inmates from 29 prisons who participated in a ‘bhajan and bhakti geet’ competition over the past year. The state prisons department, spurred by the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ initiative, began this novel experiment last year to get hardcore criminals to sing bhajans and bhakti geets along with accompaniments like tabla, harmonium and other instruments“The Jagadguru Shree Sant Tukaram Mahajan Bhajan Ani Abhanga Spardha is set to conclude on June 13, when the palkhis of revered saints Dnyaneshwar and Tukuram Maharaj would be in the city,” said additional director general of police (prisons) Amitabh Gupta. “Teams from Kolhapur, Taloja, Amravati, Pune (Yerawada), Nagpur and Nashik central jails have made it to the final.”“The idea behind the competition was to promote and inculcate sant sahitya [saint literature] and thoughts of good living among convicts so that on completion of their sentences, they leave the prison with a positive approach to life,” said Gupta. Gupta said the competition provided some respite to the inmates from their daily rigours. “We hope they take good lessons from this and do well in their lives,” he added. The convicts, representing a cross-section of religions and states, were trained by experts for two months to play instruments and sing. “We gave 100 books to each team,” he said.