In Rajasthan, women tie bands to protect hubbies

To protect their husbands from evil eye, caring wives are tying special bands on any five married women in Rajasthan.

A new fad has caught on in Rajasthan. To protect their husbands from evil eye, caring wives are tying special bands on any five married women.

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After tying the band on women, the ritual is repeated at a nearby temple - this time the band is tied on the wrist of goddess Parvati.

"A friend told me that doing this would end all my husband's woes. I have so far found three willing women and am searching for two more," says Meghna Mathur, a housewife here.

Most do it unthinkingly, but deny they are being superstitious.

"All this is very new to me. It's not as though I have any great belief in such things. But where's the harm in it, I ask. It might just help, who knows?"

In a land where Rajput wives long ago immolated on the husband's pyre, such an ambiguous response is hardly surprising.

"This wrist-binding may not help but it can't harm either," was how Bhanwari Devi reacted when asked what made her do it. "This is the cheapest deal I've ever come across to ensure my husband comes to no harm."

"It comes directly from goddess Parvati," said one. "It was a woman from this very city who got this order from above." A Parvati devotee, Kanika Sharma, said the goddess appeared to a believer in a dream.