Even though girls are proving themselves no less than the boys in all spheres of life, yet their birth is not welcomed by a very large number of people. Challenging and reversing this attitude, is Dharamveer Damodar, who sells jalebis in Maharashtra’s Parbhani for the last 43 years.

Hailing from Panipat in Haryana, Damodar and his family, on the first day of every New Year gifts two kilograms of jalebis to the family of every girl child born in the District General Hospital. That is not all, one child who is selected through a lucky draw, also receives a gold coin.

Now Damodar’s son, Manmohan, is carrying forward the tradition of celebrating the birth of a girl child started by his father.

True to his name, Dharamveer is known for his large-heartedness for people and society. The shop run by him in Parbhani is called Haryana Jalebi Centre.

It all began 10 years ago, when he was struck with the noble idea of doing something for girl children. He then hit upon this idea of special celebration for the girls born on the first day of every new year. From then on, two kilograms of jalebi for every girl child and one gold coin for the lucky one, was given by him.

The lucky family this year to receive the gold coin was that of Zinat Syed Shah Rukh who also received sweets. A total of 24 families received the two kg of jalebis — 13 from district hospitals and 9 from private hospitals.