15th Jan is celebrated as Indian Army Day every year. In honor of the Indian Army and the Defence forces who guard our Borders, Skies & Seas, Rohit Chinchankar son of (Retd) Capt Ramesh Chinchanikar – Indian Army and Grandson of (Retd) Warrant Officer Gopal Chinchanikar – Indian Air Force and the Founder of www.vardistore.com started the Vardi Gratitude Week Campaign this year, 9th to 15th Jan, where the common man was given a chance to express their Gratitude towards the Soldiers.
People always feel like expressing their Gratitude for the Soldiers, but don’t know how, which medium to use and don’t know if the letters or messages will reach them. Here was the answer to all those questions. He along with the team of Vardistores.com carried out these Drive’s at Schools, Societies, Start up’s & Corporates in Pune. All of them enthusiastically participated in it by writing heartfelt letters, making colorful greeting cards & Thank You video messages for the Soldiers. For those outside of Pune, people had a chance to write an email to vardistore, which were later printed for the soldiers.
Gratitude Week for Vardi
They received and collected more than 1500 letters & emails in a span of 5 days. There were many emails sent by NRI’s living abroad. For most of them who wrote letter’s it was a like a dream come true, so many said that they could not believe that they were writing a letter of gratitude for a soldier and it would actually reach them and be read by a soldier. Right from 5 year old children drawing the National Flag and chanting ‘Jai Hind’ to Senior Citizens penning their thoughts and pouring their heart out, everyone was a part of the Vardi Gratitude Week. The drives were filled with patriotism.
14th January was Veterans Day, Rohit cycled from Pune to Mumbai a total distance of 157 Kms as a mark of Gratitude for the Soldiers. And on 15th January all the collected letters were handed over to the Army in a ceremony at the Colaba Military Station, Mumbai. From there the letters would get sent to the borders and various units throughout the country. One could only envision a soldier reading a letter coming from an unknown person, simply expressing pure gratitude.
Rohit Chinchanikar, Founder, Vardi, said, “Having gratitude for someone and expressing gratitude are two very different things. I personally think that just having gratitude is of no use, you have to express it, let people know what you feel for them, thank them for their efforts, thank them for who they are, so on and so forth. It makes the world a more better place to live in. And expressing gratitude to a soldier is a must because they are the reason we have freedom, people forget, freedom comes with a price, a price which they pay for us by sacrificing their personal lives and dedicating it to the nation. The least that we could do is, thank them. We, the team of Vardistore.com plan to celebrate the Vardi Gratitude Week every year between 9th to15th January. Our aim is to make it bigger and bigger every year. We sincerely thank all the soldiers for their selfless sacrifice, hardwork and utmost dedication. All photos and videos of the Vardi Gratitude week have been posted on our Instagram page, Vardistores.”
About Vardi
Wear your patriotism! Military Uniforms, Upcycled into Bold Clothing & Accessories. Uniforms of the armed forces have always held a place of pride & fascination. For a soldier, its a living saga of their unwavering commitment, selfless sacrifice & unilateral patriotism. But just as everything else in this world is finite, these uniforms too get old and get discarded someday. Vardi is the answer to the decades old issue of how to dispose Defence uniforms in a graceful manner. Vardi, upcycles & recycles defence uniforms in to stylish and smart clothing and accessories like Jackets, Caps, Bags etc thereby giving the common man a chance to own a Memorabilia of our Soldiers!