Two days back was “Raksha Bandhan”, a Hindu festival celebrated mainly by the people in the North. This is a festival strengthening the ties between brothers & sisters. (In other parts there’s a similar festival...different date.) The sister ties a "Rakhi" or a sacred thread on her brother’s wrist amidst prayers & good wishes as a symbol for her love for him and the brother takes the responsibilty of protecting her. The thread symbolises a bond of love & trust between brothers & sisters. This need not be between blood relatives only. One could have “Rakhi" brother who may or may not be related at all but the bond is taken very seriously if one promises to be a brother. I find this festival/custom very beautiful and personally feel this could be celebrated by people from all religions.
I miss all the Indian festivals...wish I was home..this day too would have been a holiday and all markets would have had such a festive air as brothers would have been busy buying gifts for their sisters & sisters would have been searching for the perfect "Rakhi" which through the years has become more elaborate & some quite expensive being made in silver & pearls !
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oooooooooh this is so fascinating! i knew about the "rakhi" (being a thread, & being a bond betw bro & sis) but not the significance or the festival! thanks for explaining it!
i agree that this could easily be celebrated more widely! there are beautiful traditions in EVERY culture, and i kind of hope that as the *WORLD* part of "world wide web" starts sinking in with ppl we all start to become more open to trying ways of celebrating both our diversity...and the many ways in which ALL OF US human-types are *the same*!!!
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