Celebrated during the months of July and August, Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan is one of the most popular festivals that bring together brothers and sisters to honour relationship of being siblings. Siblings are considered to be the best friends that God gifts without asking for them.
Raksha Bandhan signifies the essence of being a protective influence on your sibling’s life and pray for the well-being and good health of the brother and sister. On the day of Rakhi, the sisters usually tie the rakhi or the sacred thread on the wrist of her brother.
The Rakhi signifies and represents the love, affection and special bond that the brother and sisters share among themselves. But what about those who do not have a brother or a sister of their own? Isn’t Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan a day of celebration for them as well?
A new trend that is increasingly taking shape into a prominent one is that parents are preferring having a single child. For these kids, their best friends or buddies gradually grow to become their siblings.
These kids are encouraged by their family members to celebrate Raksha Bandhan with their best friends to make their bonding stronger and not to feel bad about not having an own sibling. For the already grown up ones, it is a new way of celebrating their friendship turned siblinghood.
Raksha Bandhan, as a ritual, helps in bringing siblings closer to each other and wish for a harmonious and safe life ahead. Indians who are settled abroad are seen to be celebrating Rakhi as a harmony and communal festival with their close friends and neighbours.
On the occasion of Rakhi, we nowadays find it convenient and easy to send Rakhi to India to our siblings if are not physically present in India. And for the ones who are there with them, they order the authentic Rakhi gifts through the online portals to send rakhi online at the designated addresses outside India.
The Indians shop on the web to buy the traditional rakhi thalis, gifts such as apparels, watches, perfumes, chocolates and similar other products to gift to their new found friends who become as important as their siblings. In countries such as USA and UK, the Indian communities invite their local friends to tie the specially designed rakhis on their wrists and embrace them as their siblings away from home. Such festive occasions help in creating as well as maintaining a harmonious relationship between themselves.
Any relationship in a person’s life is significant, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep them due to the changing lifestyle and inability to maintain a proper work-life balance. Although we are bound to our family members, especially siblings, the increasing dependency on friends cannot be ignored. That’s why what would be a better idea than celebrating Rakhi with the best friends if you are away from home or even if you are not.