Celebrating sibling love through the festival of Rakshabandhan

Plantable Eco-friendly Rakhi!

We went eco-friendly this Rakshabandhan celebrating the festival with a 100% biodegradable Rakhi. This plantable Rakhi is made from hand-made paper, natural colours and, seeds which can be planted in the soil after the festival is over to grow plants of Tulsi and marigold. This is just a small gesture towards the Mother Nature, which also gives me a reason to share a beautiful little story of the festival which is very close to my heart.

We are four sisters and a brother. My youngest sibling (my baby brother) is twelve years younger to me. For very long I didn’t have a brother. Twelve years is really a long time, don’t you think? The sister immediately younger to me is just two years younger. So for a few years not having a brother didn’t make much of a difference. It didn’t really matter if I had a brother or not until I was seven years old. In our craft class at the school, we were being taught how to make Rakhi using silk threads and a brush and were being told the story and the significance of the Rakshabandhan festival. I, as a kid, was so intrigued and fascinated by it that I terribly wanted to have a brother of my own. Moreover, looking at other girls with brothers and listening to their plans for the festival was making me long for a brother even more.

That day, when I returned home, I was particularly sad and my mother sensed it immediately. When asked, I narrated her the entire incident that happened at the school. She laughed it away and helped me with my art & craft homework, which was to prepare Rakhis for display at the exhibition. The Rakhis that we prepared turned out really beautiful and I was very proud of that.

But Rakshabandhan being just 2 days away, I was still whining for a brother, and more so when my prepared Rakhis won the best Rakhi in the whole class. But, on the day of Rakshabandhan what my mother did for me was super duper extraordinary and will definitely blow away your mind (Well, it did mine!). My mother dressed my baby sister, who was 1.5 years at the time, as a boy and asked us to tie her the same Rakhis that we had prepared for the exhibition (My mother had converted Bably to Bablu for the day just for me). And the cherry on top of the cake was I even got a present for the Rakhi as a custom. And my happiness knew no bounds. Life is so simple when we are kids, isn’t it? And little happiness means so much. I wish life could be so much simpler now.

For 3 more years, I continued to tie Rakhi to our Bablu and later to Dably turned to Dablu. It was 1.5 years later that I got my actual brother. And the first Rakhi I celebrated with him was when he was just 5 months old and could barely sit. He just kept staring and drooling all the time unaware of what was happening with him. But that one Rakhi is still the second most memorable of all Rakhi I’ve ever had so far, the first will always be the one with my Bablu! Nothing can ever beat that one!

Rakshabandhan celebrations with my brother.

Traditionally started as a way of brothers swearing to protect the sisters as they tied the Rakhis on their bothers’ wrists, I am so glad that modern day Rakshabandhan has evolved so much. It doesn’t need to be just a brother and sister festival anymore according to its modern version. And why do we need a brother to protect a sister when a sister can do the job equally well, and sometimes even better. It is only sensible that way don’t you think?

Love,

Mrs. Sunshine

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Five Years Down. Forever to Go!

It’s really been five years. Unbelievable!

It’s been five years together. Can you believe it? Isn’t that an accomplishment?

Wow!  What a journey it has been!

I can’t stop smiling, knowing that we have been married this long. And look how far we have come, from being total strangers to become engaged, to become lovers, to become spouses and now, to become parents to this already handsome tiny human being.

I can’t believe how quickly time has flown by. But it still feels it was only yesterday when we used to talk on the phone for hours together at length with all those flirty messages.

Five years ago, you made me fall in love with you; slowly, but steadily. Times have changed since.

Definitely.

And so has our ways of expressing our love for each other. But what hasn’t changed in all these years is the love we share. Welcoming Shaarav in our lives has taken our relationship to a whole new level altogether.

My beautiful family!

I know our marriage is far from being perfect. Sure, we have had our tough times and our set of challenges. And I do not lie when I say there have been days when I’ve felt difficult to continue any longer. There have been days when I could take no more and so desperately wanted to call it quits. But the way we have worked on them with empathy and grace, and overcome our differences has made us the person that we are; better than we have ever been. And it has only made us strong, bringing us all the more close.

We fight, we cry, we annoy each other to the core and we even don’t talk to each other for a day or two. But we also love, respect and care for each other. I have watched you change for better and grow as a person over the years. Sometimes it surprises me how you have come a long way from being a couch potato to being this best hands-on dad I’ve ever known. This shows how you truly care. You have made what mattered to me, matter to you garnering my respect for you all the more. Watching you make conscious efforts, day after day, to be a better dad and an even better husband makes me so impressed and proud.

I might not express what I feel for you, every day. I don’t tell you this as often and as much as I should, but these have been the most amazing and fullest five years of my life. It’s been one interesting ride, full of fun, surprises and more than anything, adventurous. I wouldn’t in my dreams trade what we have for anything in the world. What we have is nothing short of being magical. So I particularly take this day to thank you for making this all so beautiful and cherished.

I love you so very much!

So, on this special day, a cheesy, cliche hearty love letter to you for our five years of togetherness is totally worth it.

Thank you for investing in our marriage every single day. I feel this sense of unfailing gratitude and love for you for finding me the light whenever it was far away, for cheering me up, for supporting and encouraging me in whatever I do and enkindling in me the very energy to keep me going.

No matter how sullen and grumpy I might be, you always manage to bring a smile to my face.

Thank you for appreciating me and accepting me with all my flaws and shortcomings with an open heart. I am certainly not the most lovable person, but looking into your eyes I can see how loved and cherished I am.

Thank you for putting up with my hormone-crazed pregnancy and post-pregnancy days. Thank you for bearing with my mood swings, emotional breakdowns and tantrums, and being so patient with me, that only you could have done. I know how difficult I can be at times. You and you alone can put up with me and my shenanigans and still manage to maintain your sanity.

Thank you for Shaarav. He is magic. He is a wonder. He is out of this world. He is a gift. He is you, only a smaller version. He is totally your replica – in looks, in habits, in everything, and in every way. And I am still jealous of it so that you know.

Shaarav is truly the best thing happening to us!

Thank you for being my rock. Thank you for being the shoulder I can lean on. You have been the biggest source of my strength and comfort through all my thick and thin. I feel beyond blessed to have you in my life to share my life with you.

You complete me.

The story we share and the journey we’ve had so far makes me believe that we are here to stay; that we are meant to be. We are going to stick together just the way we have done in the past. But I won’t make any promises because I don’t know how much of it I can keep. Yet, I can assure you that I will definitely make the journey worthwhile. I love you from the deepest reaches of my heart and I honestly can’t imagine my life without you. I love you more today than yesterday, and I will love you even more tomorrow than today.

It fills my heart with utter wonder to know that the best is right now and still yet to come. So cheers to all the laughs and tears we have shared and cheers to the rest of our lives that I look forward to annoying you and growing old together.

Happy 5th Anniversary Mr. Husband!

Love,

Mrs. Sunshine

“You are the wind beneath my wings!”

May our love grow all the more with each passing day!

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