Is moolah bond taking over Raksha Bandhan?

TIES NO more mean promises. They mean Titan watches, Swiss chocolates, Nike shoes, expensive clothes and lots and lots of moolah! Come Raksha Bandhan and one can eavesdrop on conversations like, ?So, what are you giving me for Rakhi?? or ?You?d better give me an iPod for Rakhi.? So is Rakhi just becoming money-bonding? ?Not really, I prefer telling my brother what to get me, as I anyway know that he is going to get something for me.

TIES NO more mean promises. They mean Titan watches, Swiss chocolates, Nike shoes, expensive clothes and lots and lots of moolah! Come Raksha Bandhan and one can eavesdrop on conversations like, “So, what are you giving me for Rakhi?” or “You’d better give me an iPod for Rakhi.”

HT Image

So is Rakhi just becoming money-bonding? “Not really, I prefer telling my brother what to get me, as I anyway know that he is going to get something for me. So why not let him know what I want,” says Deeksha, 17 and adds, “Festivals are meant for fun. When I know that he will come to my help when I need it why not grab the opportunity to grab gifts from him!”

Her brother, Danish, 24 says, “I feel my sister gets a license to ‘rob’ me on Rakhi. But it’s good that she tells me whatever she wants. Because then I can just go to that one shop and get her gift.”

However, their mother Vidya, “My children go mad before Rakhi. When I look at them ‘negotiating’ for gifts I am bewildered. I remember how religiously I used to get up early on Rakhi, take a bath, prepare goodies for my brothers and I wouldn’t eat till the time I tied Rakhi on their wrists. Gifts were never an issue.

But my children, oh God, they start ‘negotiating’ 15 days before the festival and my daughter makes sure that she finalizes only on the ‘deal’ that is beneficial for her.”

She adds, “However, I don’t think it has anything to do losing the values not keeping up with the tradition. I think it is just their love and way of celebrating. I know, however, much my son cribs about the day, he is really sad when my daughter is not in town for Rakhi.”

However, with Avantika, 10 and Vansh Deep it is a different story. Vansh Deep is all of six. So every year his father gets a chocolate for so that he can gift it to his sister. As soon as he gives his sister the chocolate he makes sure that she shares the chocolate with him. Avantika says, “He eats 50% of the chocolate. He is more concerned about the chocolate than about the festival.”

However, talking on a serious note is Rakhi losing its purpose, which was making promises of protection to the sister? Anshika, 22 say, “See I am not really dependent on my brother in anyway. I don’t rely on him for my wellbeing or protection. For me Rakhi really is a tradition that I have been following for years together now. I stay in Lucknow and my brother stays in Delhi and its rarely possible that we meet on Rakhi. I courier him the Rakhis.” But for Radha, 36 Raksha Bandhan means asking God for her brothers well being and taking a promise from her brother that he would protect her from all dangers. She says, “Rakhi is a very pious festival. It should not be made materialistic. It is about spirituality.”

However, the hep youth will be the same. Priyanka, 17 says, “Yes I will make my brother promise me one thing this year- I will make him promise a brand new Play Station.”