The celebrations have started and the tyaaris are ongoing with Mummy getting the khaana ready and the behna getting the thaali decorated..with mehendi on her hands and smile on her face she gets excited to see you while shouting out ‘bhaiya aa gaye’..!!
Suddenly there’s a number of things happening at once – thaali le ao…oho chawal men sindhoor milaya?? Arrreh mithai nahin rakhi thaali men?? Raakhiyaan packing mein se to nikaal deni thi..and so on..
Finally, the moment has come when you raise your hand and your sister leans forward to tie the auspicious thread around your wrist…While she wraps it, what comes to your mind??
The sentiment and emotions in her eyes…do they really need just a gift or something else?
This Raksha Bandhan make these eight promises to your sister and make sure you abide by them:
1. I have to protect her
…From the evils of the society but not by keeping her locked in the chaar diwari, but by letting her go out and understand the evils of the society. When she wants me to shield her, I will always be there.
2. The guide when she needs
No matter what she aspires to become, I will always guide her for the best option in terms of her life and career by gaining maximum knowledge about her field of interest and passing it on to her in a respectable manner.
3. I will never hit her
…No matter what the situation is…I have better ways of teaching her what she needs to learn. I understand that if she accepts this violence as a part of the family culture then there are chances that if God forbid she gets brutality from her in-laws, then she’ll bear it as a way of life.
4. Respect her privacy
I will never check on her secretly. She is an individual who has her own space and entering someone’s private space without permission is not a positive sign. Being my sister, I will always respect her space and her privacy. Secretive checks are a part of one’s own insecure nature…I will always trust her for whatever she plans to do with herself.
5. Swear to keep her secrets
She will be my secret keeper and so will I. No matter the intensity, if there’s a secret she shares with me, I promise to keep it safe till the day I die.
6. Not leave her alone
I will hold on to her even in the worst of situations…no matter what she feels about me I’ll always hold her hand through the thick and thin without expecting anything in return. If there’s a perception then there’s a reason too…I’ll try to find the reason and rectify it.
7. Bond that never breaks
She’ll get married and so will I but the bond shall always remain the same between us. I know she is more attached to our parents and I will make sure that I give them the love and respect by adding her’s too, when she’s not around.
8. Judgement is not for her
I will never judge her for the behaviour of any of the extended relations. For me, she is the same innocent little girl who’s grown under the same roof as I have, cuddling the same parents and fighting for the same TV remote.
Finally, by this time if you’ve managed to make these promises then God bless you and may this bond be eternal and so be your affection for each other.
Time to hand over the gift to her – she’s waiting!
