Raksha Bandhan

types of rakhis

This is the first Indian holiday that we have gotten to experience since moving here two months ago (I know - two months already!).  After attempting to get the story behind the holiday from our driver, Sunil, I decided I'd have better luck understanding the origin from Wikipedia.  You can read all about the holiday here. Basically, females are supposed to tie rakhis around the wrist of their brother.  The rakhis symbolize the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being.  It used to be that the brother would then give his sister sweets and make a lifelong vow to protect her.  The sweets have now been traded for money.  And .. you don't actually have to be related to your "brother" to give him a rakhi.  Sunil's cousin tied one of his wrist.  Stewart and I read an article about Raksha Bandhan in the Hindustan Times.  Guys take the meaning behind the rakhis a lot more seriously than gals.  Once a girl ties a rakhi on their wrist, they can't ever look at her with any kind of romantic notion.  The article went on to say that girls are using this holiday to deal with unwanted crushes or stalkers.  Another interesting paragraph stated that teachers are also using this holiday to crush any little classroom romances.  Guys have been absent from school in order to try and avoid this.

In spite of all the new modern twists on this holiday, I really like the original intent and meaning behind it.  Sunil and I went to a local market where I looked at different rakhis and have mailed them off.  I'm a little bummed that I can't actually tie one on my brother's wrist but that's what I get for living on the other side of the world from him.

My favorite thing right now is to check out all the wrists of the guys we see to see if they have rakhis tied on them.  I feel like I'm in the "know" now.  :-)