Life blesses us with many relations – parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties, cousins and friends… But there is one beautiful relation in which you can find a lifetime friend, an all time enemy, a secret sharer, a counselor and a best care-taker; yes only a brother-sister relation can carry so many pearls of different shades tied together in a strong string of love and care.
And today is the day dedicated to this sweet n sour relation – RAKHI; a day to strengthen the bond shared between brother and sister while tying the knots of a thread round the wrist. Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi falls on the full moon day of the Shravan month of the Hindu calendar. Many mythological tales are narrated about how this tradition of tying Rakhi around the wrist of brothers started, the most famous of all being the story of Rani Karnawati, the widowed queen of emperor of Chittor, who sent a Rakhi to Emperor Humayun asking him safeguard her husband’s empire from Bahadur Shah. The responsibility behind the thread meant so much that Humayun fought with Bahadur Shah even after Rani Karnawati committed Jauhar and handed over the kingdom to Rani’s son.
Every year the festival returns so that we can relive the memories of our childhood with our siblings. The memories attached with this relation, though different for every person, yet carry the same essence of bonding and love. You will find the same cutest smile decorating your face everytime while narrating those craziest fights, those memorable Rakhis, those countless stories of play and fun you had in kindergarten and childhood; aren’t they the most priceless memories..??
It’s amazing how a person who fights with you on every silliest of thing will think of hundreds of excuses to save you from scolding of Dad; the one who never gets tired of teasing you can go wild with anger when someone else says a word against you. While threatening each other to reveal their secrets, we never know when we start sharing the details of our every minute, our secrets and our deepest fears with each other and then we become the best friends for life. There can be no one else who could know your each and every like and dislike, who could understand your wishes and dreams, and who could make all efforts to make you smile in between the tears.
So today go back to those golden days filled with those golden memories and relive those fights and fun with your siblings. Let your childhood take over your present. And while tying Rakhi, let’s promise each other silently that “No matter how many miles and countries come in between us, I will always be the first one to share your smile and your tears.”