KARACHI: “My daughters tied rakhis around both their brothers’ wrists in the morning and I will do so in the evening as I am also fasting and will be breaking my fast at sundown. I have five brothers so we take Rakhsha Bandhan very seriously,” said Neelu Devi while selecting the pretty threads which were available at stalls outside the Swami Shri Laxmi Narayan Temple on Sunday when the full moon hid behind the clouds.

Rakhsa Bandhan, the Hindu festival celebrating the sweet bond of love between a sister and her brother, does not necessarily have to be celebrated by blood relatives only. Women and girls also tie rakhis around the wrists of those they look on to as brothers.

The rakhi is available in various local and imported varieties and in red, saffron, pink and white colours. Some are beaded, some glittery and some have the spiritual symbol ‘Om’ in the middle signifying peaceful consciousness in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

Neelu Devi carefully selected different types for her brothers while naming each of them.

“This is for Darshu, this for Raj, that one for Shyam and give me one of this and one of that for Kishan and Amit,” she said.

“I am very lucky in the brothers department as I get gifts in return of my tying the rakhi from all five of my brothers,” she added happily.

Asked who among them presents the best gifts, the sister easily named Amit. “He is my youngest brother. And I think his gifting me saris, suit piece, jewellery, perfumes, etc., has something to do with his not being married as yet,” she chuckled.

She also shared that she gave her little sons Raman and Lakhan a thousand rupees each to present to their sisters Naveena and Priya after they tied the rakhi.

Laxmi Laxman, who was also fasting, said that fasting had nothing to do with Rakhsha Bandhan.

“We are fasting for the long life of our husbands around this time. It is the 14th day of our fast today,” she explained, adding that there were three more days of fasting still to go.

She also said that she had bought a nice imported Indian rakhi from one of the stalls which she was taking home.

“My brother, Dev Ji, will visit me late in the evening after my sister-in-law Savita, who is older, has tied the rakhi around her brother’s wrist,” she added.

Meanwhile, Sohni Devi, who travelled all the way from Sehwan to visit this famous temple at the Native Jetty Bridge because she wanted to feed fish in the Chinna Creek, said that since her brothers were not with her, she would be tying the thread on the deities inside the temple. She seemed to like the local Rs5 variety.

“For their brothers, they buy the most expensive rakhi, costing up to Rs50, but for the deities they buy the cheapest ones,” commented Mohammad Ashfaq who had come especially from Mirpurkhas to sell his rakhis outside the temple.

The temple pujari (priest) Arjun Maharaj then said that he was surprised to hear superstitions talk about Sunday’s full moon being unlucky for brothers.

“In my 28 years as pujari, I have never seen the full moon at Rakhsha Bandhan being unlucky for any brother,” he said.

“But people read all kinds of things on the internet and develop strange fears. This full moon is being called a Sturgeon Moon, named after some fish caught in abundance during this time of year in the West and people have started associating all kinds of silly myths with it. But it is not an eclipse of the moon after all that may have some influence in matters of luck,” he pointed out.

Still he added that all sisters who wanted to tie rakhis during this festival can do so till Krishna Janmashtmi, which is Lord Krishna’s birthday, falling on Sept 2.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2018