Tradition-Rakshabandhan

Raksha bandhan

Last week there was a famous Indian festival called “Raksha bandhan”. This festival is celebrated nearly all part of India with little difference in name and the way rituals are performed. This is another auspicious day and falls on the full moon tithi(day). Nearly all the Hindu festivals are originated from religious background, if not, then somewhere in the path of time they have been attached to religious path and can be found its origin in religious books. There is a story in Puran (ancient religious book) where God Vishnu was doorkeeper of king Bali and Goddess lakshmi wanted him back. She went to King Bali and tie a Raksha sootra(thread of protection) and made king Bali her brother and asked for God Vishnu.

My aim is not to find out its origin but to find out its relevancy in current time and society. Now it is well known that it is symbol of love between sister and brother, and has been celebrated from hundreds of years. It is considered that sister ties Raksha sootra in her brother’s wrist and brother promises to protect/help her lifelong.

Culture is created by human and once culture is created humans are created by culture. Culture creates human bit by bit and the end product represents the entirety of that culture. As time passes custom/tradition/culture gets customized and gives new meaning to the same old tradition.

If today I ask any girl does she really want protection/help from her brother and this is the reason she is tying this knot? What will she answer? And why she is looking for protection from her brother, and if she is asking for it, does really she get it? We must not forget that such cultural conditioning starts from childhood and goes lifelong which creates a cultural distortion in her mind and unintentionally she accepts that she really needs help/protection in various phases of her life. This is social upbringing partiality against her. effect of such traditions can not be seen directly however such tiny traditions are responsible for male dominated society.

In this 21^st century, when she is moving parallel to her brother and equally capable of achieving millstones of life on her own then why this tradition is not changing and stops backing her down. She must be free from such unintentional conditioning. Everyone in one’s life needs support and must get it, however it should not be from one side. For a good and healthy society it must be form both side. If sister is tying Raksha sootra then brother also must do the same, and instead of brother, both should promise to help each other lifelong.