Today is ‘Raksha Bandhan’, a unique festival in Indian culture, unparalleled in any other society in the world. This sacred ceremony essentially commemorates the bond between a brother and sister. Brothers eagerly await this festival to show off their wrists tied with beautiful ‘rakha sutras’ and sisters are overjoyed as it provides them an opportunity to shower their love and affection on their siblings. I am sure each one of us has sweet nostalgic memories associated with the way we celebrated Rakhi.
It transports me back to the days when we would all gather at my grandfather’s place in Indore, we didn’t have this concept of ‘real sibling’ or ‘cousins’, just brothers and sisters. By the end of the day our hands were full of rakhis, right till the elbows and we would strut around like peacocks it with pride. It was also time for getting to eat as many laddoos as the number of rakhis, so it was pure bliss. Sisters were richer with all the gifts which they collected and of course, the fact that there were so many brothers who were at their beck and call. Traditionally this thread was meant to signify that the brother would protect his sister at all costs, but honestly, I feel this ‘thread’ manifests itself as a ‘kavach’ (shield) that protects the brother from all evils.
As the story goes it was Bhagwan Krishna who nicked his finger and Draupadi tied a piece of cloth from her Sari to bandage him, He subsequently protected her honour when Kuravas were trying to disrobe her. Historical accounts also mention that Alexander’s wife Roxana also sent a Rakhi to King Porus and Porus honoured it by not attacking Alexander and in the bargain lost the battle. Rani Karnavati of Mewar is also reported to have sent a rakhi to Humayun when her kingdom was under attack by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and Humayun sent his military and restored the kingdom to her son, as the aid reached late and by then the valorous Rajput ladies had performed the jauhar.
For people like us, who have spent their entire life in uniform, away from their kith and kin, the celebrations were mostly through the letters containing these precious Rakhis delivered by the Postal Department. Since the festival is celebrated during the monsoons, the full moon day of Shravan month of Indian calendar, it fell during the academic/training term in RIMC as well as NDA/IMA, I missed all the fun back home. But we as a family were quite progressive in this regard, so my Rakhi was always tied just before I embarked on my way back to school/academy, sometime mid July. I also received my share of Rakhis by post, as on the auspicious day, I loved to flaunt all those pretty looking threads, some of which were crafted artistically by my sisters themselves. Siblings are God’s gift to the children, who are not just playmates but are soulmates who stand by you even in adversity. As a famous quote goes, “A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.”
The bond between a brother and sister in India is so special that even after her betrothal, she retains her special status in the family. Traditionally sisters’ presence is a prerequisite in all auspicious occasions be it a wedding, house warming or any other sanskaras (roughly translated as rituals). Mind you their presence is not just ornamental or perfunctory, they are the edifice on which the family bonds rest. They carry with them the ethos and values which nurtures her own family. Richa my little sister, is a neurosurgeon and she has been truly a saviour by taking on the mantle of keeping everyone in the family healthy. This blog is dedicated to her and my cousins, late Pragya, Rekha, Sulekha, Sheela, Seema, Ruchi, Avni and Ami, who have always made it a point to shower their love and affection on us brothers wherever we may have been, in the wilderness of Africa or high altitude deserts of Ladakh, in Kashmir Valley during the worst period of insurgency, providing me with their good luck charm, the “Rakhi”. Happy Raksha Bandhan folks
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