The Threads of Love, Care & Bonding

I generally miss my cousins most days of the year – it is hard not to, we have practically grown up together. But never more so than on Rakhi – the day that is officially meant to celebrate the bonds between a brother & a sister.

I am an only child. But I never did feel the absence of a sibling. My cousins more than made up for it. Our families are very close. So our childhood was generally spent together in numerous functions, during festivals, family trips & of course all vacations. We have spent entire summers together – playing out the whole day, going for plays, being taken to parks or to shop for toys, staying awake at night gossiping, going for summer camps – around a month of chaos, madness, playing, fighting, laughing & crying. And then we grew up.

Tuitions & summer schools took place of our joy of summer vacations. And as we got into college, different priorities, entrances, exams turned our lives upside down. Time together dropped. But we always did find a way to get together – over someone’s parents’ milestone birthday, a few odd trips & over a few festivals – major of all – Rakhi!

I still recall vividly, my eldest cousin dropping in every rakhi morning, a couple of rakhis on his hand already & his day planned to visit a few more sisters later on. My youngest 2 cousins would be dropped home sleepy-eyed by their mom, who would have come in to tie my dad a rakhi before they headed off to their offices. We would laze around the whole day & celebrate rakhi in the evening, fight over gifts before they headed back home that night.

As adulthood creeped in, 2 of my cousins left for their education abroad & rakhi started taking a different meaning altogether. It became a day of nostalgia, memories, missing each other as we sent rakhis via air & wished each other digitally, or if the varying time zones somehow allowed our free times to overlap then over a short Video Call.

I still love to fight for gifts. As a sister I believe it is my birth-right. But today, in this global era of digital communication, the emotional soul in me would like nothing more than the day I would be able to physically tie a rakhi to all 3 of my cousins, cram their mouth with sweets & have a heartfelt hug with all of them, together – like we did the last time we were together. That would be my best rakhi gift.

Happy Rakhi to Each & Everyone! Enjoy the company & fights while it lasts.


PS: if any of my cousins are reading this, rakhi gift is still my birth-right & I promise to recover it from you, with interest 😜

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