Bound to protect
Another raksha bandhan has come and gone. And as usual there is not a single rakhi on me. Of course I dont have any sisters. And then this was never a festival of the iyengar clan. But that should not have deterred the girls from tying a rakhi! Nah....I am not complaining.
Let me go back to my school days. I guess till the age of 10 or 11 there was always a competition in the class among the boys to see who gets the most number of rakhis. The boys used to beam with pride as they had rakhis upto their elbow! And then some more in the pocket with the thread just hanging out, only to show that they have more but no space left. I dont know why I had an aversion towards the rakhi. I never liked to get a rakhi tied. Of course I didnt have anything against the concept (of protection and the likes). It was just that I never liked any jazzy thing on my hand. Stangely, not many girls even tried to tie one. I guess they could sense my discomfort and disinterest with the whole thing. And of course I dont think they were confident enough that I would protect them! I was never a part of the competition.
Things changed drastically once the boys turned into teenagers. Now the hormones were in play and not all the boys were keen on getting rakhis tied from all the girls! Of course some they didnt mind, but for every guy there was at least one girl who he didnt want to get a rakhi tied from. I still remember a classmate of mine being chased all around school by a girl to tie a rakhi! And the girls too used the occasion to their advantage. It was a way to tell the guy that they were not interested in him and just stay away from her! I think there were some occassions now where a couple of girls tried to tie a rakhi to me. I of course accepted with pleasure but cautioned them telling I might remove it maybe minutes after they tied it! Only since I was not comfortable. But these were one off incidents and no one really bothered to tie one on me.
I am not a teenager anymore. I do not have any sisters (no regrets too!). And raksha bandhan has never been a festival in my life. But the essence of the concept is a thing I admire. The fairer sex might disagree but after all the men are here to protect them, sisters or otherwise, with or without the rakhi in hand...........
Let me go back to my school days. I guess till the age of 10 or 11 there was always a competition in the class among the boys to see who gets the most number of rakhis. The boys used to beam with pride as they had rakhis upto their elbow! And then some more in the pocket with the thread just hanging out, only to show that they have more but no space left. I dont know why I had an aversion towards the rakhi. I never liked to get a rakhi tied. Of course I didnt have anything against the concept (of protection and the likes). It was just that I never liked any jazzy thing on my hand. Stangely, not many girls even tried to tie one. I guess they could sense my discomfort and disinterest with the whole thing. And of course I dont think they were confident enough that I would protect them! I was never a part of the competition.
Things changed drastically once the boys turned into teenagers. Now the hormones were in play and not all the boys were keen on getting rakhis tied from all the girls! Of course some they didnt mind, but for every guy there was at least one girl who he didnt want to get a rakhi tied from. I still remember a classmate of mine being chased all around school by a girl to tie a rakhi! And the girls too used the occasion to their advantage. It was a way to tell the guy that they were not interested in him and just stay away from her! I think there were some occassions now where a couple of girls tried to tie a rakhi to me. I of course accepted with pleasure but cautioned them telling I might remove it maybe minutes after they tied it! Only since I was not comfortable. But these were one off incidents and no one really bothered to tie one on me.
I am not a teenager anymore. I do not have any sisters (no regrets too!). And raksha bandhan has never been a festival in my life. But the essence of the concept is a thing I admire. The fairer sex might disagree but after all the men are here to protect them, sisters or otherwise, with or without the rakhi in hand...........
posted by Sriniketh S at
7:08 PM
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