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!

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

Views: 217