One of the many amazing things about living in India is the sheer abundance of festivities that celebrate some occasion or the other.
Being a melting pot of a huge chunk of humanity, practicing multiple faiths and belief systems, something or the other is always going on (or, worst case, just round the corner) at any given point of time!
However, even among the multitude of such events, there is a day that always stands out for me: Raksha Bandhan.
There aren't many occasions as pious as a day celebrating the love of a brother for his sister, and vice versa.
Without even any religious copyrights or boundaries, one that is completely understood, liked, practiced across all faiths - appropriately enough, because its idea and concept is not endemic to a religion but to humanity. No wonder, any sane person/family appreciates, understands, and even practices it, irrespective of any religious affiliation.
A day that also recounts and reaffirms a brother's duty and sense of responsibility for his sister.
Quietly.
Piously.
Warmly.
A simple ceremony where the sister ties a rakhi on her brother's hand, does a simple teeka/tilak, followed by a pooja (equating and acknowledging a brother to no less than a divine blessing), and the brother too, as a token of his love, exchanging sweets, gifting his sister, and most importantly, acknowledging, appreciating, and reaffirming his love and responsibility towards her.
Without any shenanigans.
Nothing over the top.
Nothing against any other festival but this is a day, which neither carries the baggage of liquor-induced tamasha of a Holi nor the agonizingly gory display of self-inflicted violence of a Muharram. Heck, not even the ear-deafening blitzkreig on a Diwali.
Nice, plain, and simple.
As part of a sense of the occasion, what is also worth sharing and is something I've always felt could be extremely helpful in today's times of lack of trust and safety for women, is a sense of responsibility towards every woman.
I must also confess that it would be too idealistic or foolhardy to expect that everyone should see every woman (except his wife) as his sister only.
Yes, this ain't Satyug yet.
However, what surely is possible, is that no one should count it as his right to harass anyone.
You might not need to see/call everyone as your sister but please do have a sense of responsibility towards everyone's sister.
This video (courtesy/credit: Varun Pruthi) is perhaps a wonderful example of what it is truly, to celebrate Raksha Bandhan, in the best way not only on just that day, but also on every single day.
A nice, simple, and wonderful way to make our society better.
We have also had cases of women misusing their current status to manipulate/harass men too, but I believe, that just like most men aren't bad, most women aren't either.
Just a case of a few rotten apples on both sides, who unfortunately, tend to dominate our view when it comes to forming opinions about any person/gender.
So if I can ask anything of every guy, it is only this much:
Even if you cannot call everyone your sister, let us all make sure that we protect and care for not only our sister(s), but also everyone else's.
No one (across any gender) has the right to harass any individual.
Perhaps the day when we could see every guy adopting such an attitude as part of his core, conscious belief-system, that day would be the day when we would be making our world such an infinitely safer and better place.
That would be the best way to celebrate Raksha Bandhan!
Here's to a much happier, safer, caring, responsible, and empathetic world: Happy Raksha Bandhan!!
Being a melting pot of a huge chunk of humanity, practicing multiple faiths and belief systems, something or the other is always going on (or, worst case, just round the corner) at any given point of time!
However, even among the multitude of such events, there is a day that always stands out for me: Raksha Bandhan.
There aren't many occasions as pious as a day celebrating the love of a brother for his sister, and vice versa.
Without even any religious copyrights or boundaries, one that is completely understood, liked, practiced across all faiths - appropriately enough, because its idea and concept is not endemic to a religion but to humanity. No wonder, any sane person/family appreciates, understands, and even practices it, irrespective of any religious affiliation.
A day that also recounts and reaffirms a brother's duty and sense of responsibility for his sister.
Quietly.
Piously.
Warmly.
A simple ceremony where the sister ties a rakhi on her brother's hand, does a simple teeka/tilak, followed by a pooja (equating and acknowledging a brother to no less than a divine blessing), and the brother too, as a token of his love, exchanging sweets, gifting his sister, and most importantly, acknowledging, appreciating, and reaffirming his love and responsibility towards her.
Without any shenanigans.
Nothing over the top.
Nothing against any other festival but this is a day, which neither carries the baggage of liquor-induced tamasha of a Holi nor the agonizingly gory display of self-inflicted violence of a Muharram. Heck, not even the ear-deafening blitzkreig on a Diwali.
Nice, plain, and simple.
As part of a sense of the occasion, what is also worth sharing and is something I've always felt could be extremely helpful in today's times of lack of trust and safety for women, is a sense of responsibility towards every woman.
I must also confess that it would be too idealistic or foolhardy to expect that everyone should see every woman (except his wife) as his sister only.
Yes, this ain't Satyug yet.
However, what surely is possible, is that no one should count it as his right to harass anyone.
You might not need to see/call everyone as your sister but please do have a sense of responsibility towards everyone's sister.
This video (courtesy/credit: Varun Pruthi) is perhaps a wonderful example of what it is truly, to celebrate Raksha Bandhan, in the best way not only on just that day, but also on every single day.
A nice, simple, and wonderful way to make our society better.
We have also had cases of women misusing their current status to manipulate/harass men too, but I believe, that just like most men aren't bad, most women aren't either.
Just a case of a few rotten apples on both sides, who unfortunately, tend to dominate our view when it comes to forming opinions about any person/gender.
So if I can ask anything of every guy, it is only this much:
Even if you cannot call everyone your sister, let us all make sure that we protect and care for not only our sister(s), but also everyone else's.
No one (across any gender) has the right to harass any individual.
Perhaps the day when we could see every guy adopting such an attitude as part of his core, conscious belief-system, that day would be the day when we would be making our world such an infinitely safer and better place.
That would be the best way to celebrate Raksha Bandhan!
Here's to a much happier, safer, caring, responsible, and empathetic world: Happy Raksha Bandhan!!
