Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A Rakhi on the table...

As Indians, we have some festival or the other everyday. After all, we have 33 crore Gods to appease not to forget a Jesus and an Allah. There have been so many instances where someone walks upto to me and says that today is So-and-So festival.
And all I can manage is a bewildered, ‘Huh?’ And this expression does little to hide my ignorance.
Living in Bombay, or ‘The Great Ruined Metropolis’ as Salman Rushdie would say, has it’s own pitfalls. Festivals have lost their zing. Many have been reduced to mere holidays. Tomorrow is one of the most beautiful festivals – Raksha Bandhan!
On the day of Raksha Bandhan, the Sister ties a Rakhi (Holy thread)on the wrist of her brother. The Brother, in return, gives her a gift and vows to protect her. It is one of the few festivals in India that transcend the boundaries of religion because people of every religion seem to have siblings.
My memories of Raksha Bandhan will always be special. I remember, as a Kid, my sisters used to wait till I woke up and bathed fresh. They would then tie beautiful Rakhis and in return, I would give them 10 Rupees each. (Dad used to leave them on the table for me.) All day, I would strut around brandishing my Rakhis.
           Raksha B
         What made me blog about Raksha Bandhan today was the fact that Mum had gone to my Sister’s place and She came back with a Rakhi which I am supposed to tie on my wrist tomorrow. By myself. My Sister lives in Bombay, which incidentally happens to be the city that I live in!  My other sister is settled abroad, She sent me a Rakhi by post once. I doubt if she would even message tomorrow. She wouldn’t even know that it is Raksha Bandhan tomorrow. We are bound by our personal commitments which has led the once inseparable siblings lead disjointed lives.
      As I write this, I see my Rakhi for tomorrow lying on the table in it’s plastic wrapping. Mum will tie the Rakhi.I am reminded of how my sisters used to hide the Rakhis so that I could not see what they looked like. I am reminded of all the fun and all the silly jokes we cracked at 1.00 in the morning. I wish life had a rewind button..! I so wish.. :(

29 Grumblings:

Mary Jasmine said...

Nice piece of work...
Just hoping that ur sister reads it and calls you up...

Andrews Chinnamallela said...

Good you have beautiful memories...some people still are in a process to create them....living by them sometimes gives us an assurance...yeah you are true...wish life had a rewind button..

Ketaki said...

dnt feel sad we r there....im ur sister isnt it??

Cherry said...

Hey thanks for reminding, Happy Raksha Bandhan, See the power of technology, helped me to see your post and wish you......, now wherez my gift????

Anand said...

nice..but why are you cursing Indians and their 'everyday festivals' at the start of your post? You do seem to have good memories of those...

Unknown said...

Very Touchy Ayyo...U almost made me cry :P

Am too is in a similar situation.

Ayyappan said...

@Jasmine
She didn't. I messages her then..! :D


@Andrew
Yeah, we could have rewinded so many times...! :D


@Ketaki
Yup!! You are.. thanks!!.. :)

Ayyappan said...

@Cherry
Happy Raksha Bandhan to you too..! Gift? Where's my Rakhi?? :D


@Anand
I'm not cursing anyone, I just mentioned something that routinely happens to me...!
Yeah, I do have great memories though..!! And I did mention that Raksha Bandhan is one of my favourite festivals..!


@Nitesh
Hey..! Welcome..! :)
I hate it..!! I so wish I become a kid again..! *Sniff* :D

Anchal said...

it was nice to read it.

kunwar said...

My sister lives in the same house.
I woke up at 8 in the morning, bathed, dressed and then waited for 5 hours before she was ready to tie me a rakhi.

She really wasnt very enthused.

So Ayyo, no need to be sad.

And yea Rakhi is not a holy 'thread' any more...

The rakhi my cousins tied me were metallic :P like a bracelet :P

Ayyappan said...

@Kunwar
Haha..! This never happened to me.. because I was always a late riser..! And we never went over the moon for the Raksha Bandhan as well..!
Today, when we are tied up with our commitments, do we realise the significance of those moments..!!

I love the festival.. and the sentiments attached to it..! SO I would not mind a metallic rakhi.. :D: P

Akash... said...

I was visited by one Aunt of mine, who came to tie 8 rakhis (of all my sisters). Didn't need to give any money and that actually hurt. I remembered the times when we had a huge gathering at my home, good food was made, and we'd play around in the house. Then they'd tie the rakhis and try to fill my mouth with sweets. :) They'd then force me to touch their feet. :| :)

Though when I decided to spend the evening at a pub (alone of course) and was sitting there, diving into drinks, one of my sisters called and said - "Bhaiya, rakhi ke bandhan ko nibhna!". She'd come to my home to tie a rakhi and waited for an hour for me to come back. I got the rakhi tied, gave money, touched her feet, hugged her, and went back to drown myself in the divine liquid and the hazy smoke.

Cherry said...

My dear chotabhai,
It was me who wished you, this is also a medium to wish.... right? why you said i didnt wish you, sad you didnt recognise me...


your motibehen

Meera's World said...

we never had this function but i think thats a great way to make relations stronger.
by the way,you and your sister lving in the same place/bombay,you could have gone to her home!:)
anyways,as we grow older,lots of things we loved and enjoyed as kids seems to be less and less interesting.may be as you said all are busy with their own lives. when we were kids we didnt have to think about anything else other than wait for these festivals..

Mary Jasmine said...

Hey finally ur sister wished u na.... HAPPY NOW!!!

ketki said...

i too wish life had a rewind button...
n i so badly wish i cud rewind my life...

god! i am sounding like a 90yr old naani
:D

Gaga said...

i jss wanted to let u noe that there is no such word as penseive..if m nt mistaken..! so plz check in the dictionary which u wud b doing anyways..have a nice day

Cherry said...

Actually there is word, the US people use it, but it will show as spelling mistake in word, and the correct spelling it shows is pensive, but surely penseive is also a word....

Meera's World said...

hope you are doing good:)

Siddhesh said...

Hey ayyo, nice work man......very touching.....n by the way its 'Mumbai' not bombay.....keep blogging.

Ayyappan said...

@Akash
They'd then force me to touch their feet.

Hahaha..! That is something I intend to do to you the next time we meet..! :D :D

@Motibehen
How would I know that you were 'Cherry'?!
What happened to all the wonderful names in the world?! :D


@Meera
I still love Raksha Bandhan and I have not lost interest for it. I cannot say the same for the other festivals as well.
We were tied with our commitments..! And I hate it..!

Ayyappan said...

@Garima
I wish you could have googled the word before commenting on my choice of words.
It's a term borrowed from Harry Potter. Do a Google image search for the word 'Pensieve', it'll enlighten you visually.

P.S.
I don't appreciate when people don't speak English but try to write in the English alphabet.

For example, "i jss wanted to let u noe"

Have a nice day.

Ayyappan said...

@Motibehen
Actually, a Pensieve is a magical object in Harry Potter. It is a receptacle and is used to store and review memories.
So, as a Harry Potter fan, I thought that the title 'A Peep into my Pensieve' was apt and brilliant..! :D :)

Ayyappan said...

@Siddhesh
Thanks a lot..!

Naah, for me, It'll be Bombay in English, Bambai in Hindi and Mumbai in Marathi..! You see, it's legal to use Bombay as well..!
(An old man's whims!) :D

Gaga said...

your p.s sounded defensive..bt anyways..i was just trying to be nice by enlightenin u..and yeah...im lazy..the shortcuts make my life easy u noe.period.*yawns*

Ayyappan said...

For ones, it was not defensive. It is a pain to go through your semi literate posts..!

Secondly, I think I made it clear with what a 'Pensieve' meant.
You cannot 'enlighten' (If you chose to borrow my term) about something I already know enough.

Finally, look beyond the title, (I can safely assume you haven't) I think I wrote a nice post..!

Cheers..!

Cherry said...

Of course I remember reading it in Goblet of fire, and so I was sure its a correct word, was only trying to defend you....

Ayyappan said...

@Motibehen
Aah..! Am I wrong when I say that you read The Goblet of Fire at our house?!

I know you were trying to defend me and it was very sweet of you to do so..! :D

Unknown said...

Hmm interesting.. actually i decided to take a half a day from office on that day (in chennai we dnt have it as an offical holiday) and lo n behold the entire gang turns up.. sweets lights prayers thalis snaps music food gifts money n ofcourse rakhis!!

I wasn't expecting anybody to tun up but boy o boy that day's rakhi was like having a "rewind" button!!!