Week 4.5, Raksha Bandhan

Today is the Raksha Bandhan festival. It is a Hindu festival celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters. Raksha means to love and protect, and Bandhan means the bond. Today, girls buy a string bracelet called a rakhi and tie it on their brothers’ wrist. I bought some for me and my sister and brother.

Mine is red, Valerie’s is yellow and Julian’s is red and yellow. Most of the rachis for sale are much more decorated with beads and sparkles and fuzzy balls, but I chose simple ones. My sister likes pearls so I got beads that look like pearls, and the simplest one for my brother because I don’t think he would like to wear a big fuzzy puff ball on his wrist. I’m putting them in the mail tomorrow; they’ll arrive a little late since the festival is today. I put mine on already.