Happy Raksha Bandhan!

There's something beautiful about relationships. What is it that ties us together? Why do we feel emotionally close to some, more so than others? Does sharing the same parents automatically sustain the bonds of love we establish with our siblings? Can two total strangers establish this sort of a sibling relationship despite not having same parent(s)?

One of the charming sentiments of the festival of Raksha Bandhan is the celebration of a sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and a brother's solemn promise to protect and care for her as best as he can.

As a symbol of this commitment to each other, the sister ties a Rakhi on her brother's wrist, which he wears proudly.

And, it transcends blood relationships. The tying of the Rakhi by the girl and the acceptance of it by the boy establishes this brother-sister relationships even among total strangers.

Of course, when I was growing up, my brother did not like sporting the Rakhi, so, I just gave him a present or a hand-made card on and off. It was not a big deal in our family as we had established other ways of affirming our love and respect for each other.

But, now that Ana and Og are old enough, we decided to celebrate the Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan as it happens to be today.

Ana made a friendship bracelet with 6-strand cotton embroidery floss: tied a knot on one end, attached it to a knob on the kitchen drawer and tried her best at braiding uniformly.

Then, we had a small ceremony for tying the Rakhi bracelet.

Of course, what with the nasty cold, the many scrapes and bruises he accumulated just in the last few days (he has been particularly accident-prone the last few days, not sure why), and the fever he woke up with early this morning, Og was not in a great mood. So, we kept the ceremony short.

And soon after, as his cranky mood kept escalating, he fixated on the new bracelet and declared, "I don't want to wear this friendship bracelet, Mama. Can I please take it off now?"

I had to respect that, so off it came. Which is fine. He might decide to wear it again. Or not.

Ana liked making it. Og let her tie it. Which is more than I expected to happen.

Speaking of friendship bracelets, it seems like Ana has got on the bandwagon just now as she hit the right age to be able to make it. She has been making quite a few. Even a friendship anklet which she made for herself and wears on her ankle.

Her Aunt had given her a Friendship Bracelet Kit a few months back. It seemed a bit too complicated to use the loom in the kit. But now that she has been making a few simple twisted or braided thread ones, we might be ready for the loom.

Happy Raksha Bandhan Wishes to all the brothers (and sisters)!!