Sparkler Snapshots

XXV | The Celebration of Strings and Stuff

"Our siblings. They resemble us just enough to make all their differences confusing, and no matter what we choose to make of this, we are cast in relation to them our whole lives long." – Susan Scarf Merrell

Date: August 7th, 2017 (the full moon day of the Hindu month of Shravana)

Occasion: Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi

Country: India

Disclaimer: The narrator of this chapter is my friend, Roonil_Wazlib13 aka Sana, so a huge thanks to her for being cool with this!

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XXV | The Celebration of Strings and Stuff

Namastē, people! Now, we've only had two of these guides so far, correct? The prank one written by Abby and the Canada one written by that anonymous university student? Well, I'm reviving that dead writing style. I welcome you to Sana's Declassified Raksha Bandhan Celebration Guide? Nah, my tongue can't handle that many syllables. How about the Celebration of Strings and Stuff? Ah yeah, too casual. Maybe not. You know what? Let's just get on with this.

You non-Indians are probably wondering, what the heck is this Raksha Bandhan-y thing that I can't pronounce? to which I reply, rude much? I mean, it only takes a minute or so out of your day to prevent yourself from offending a country of people. For your information, it's pronounced pretty much exactly how it's spelt. Rak-sha Band-han. Not rocket science.

Also, we might as well get down to business with some fun history classes! No cheering? Fine then, make me feel awkward. Anyway, Raksha Bandhan. Sounds fancy, doesn't it? If I gave you one guess before I reveal what it's about, what would you say? Maybe a celebration about Indian bands? Wrapping presents with inappropriate Christmas gift wrap because it's the only type you have? Writing letters to Santa?

Well, I'm here to inform you that it's none of the above. Yes, you can gasp now, because Santa's never going to arrive in his one horse open sleigh. Sorry to break it to you.

Raksha Bandhan takes its form in the shape of your sibling, which makes it awkward if you're an only child. I'll explain how only children can make themselves feel less excluded later. Anyway, the purpose of the festival is the celebrate the bond between a brother and a sister. If you're itching to burn your sibling's eyebrows off, you're reading about the wrong holiday, buddy.

But have you stopped to consider how great your brother or sister is? No, seriously. Just stop and think about every time they defended you, they lent you a helping hand, they hid that one vase you broke from mom and she didn't find out until eight years later when she lifted the rug to vacuum under it and found a billion shattered pieces.

So many people don't appreciate their siblings enough, and it's painful to watch. What about those without one, huh? How they grew up lonely their entire lives? How they were forced to socially interact with strangers right off the bat? How, if some item mysteriously broke, they were the only ones to blame? A friend isn't the same as a sibling. A sibling has your blood coursing through their veins, a blood bond if you will, and that better not be forgotten any time soon.

Alas, I'm here to walk you through what we do on this momentous occasion! No Santa, no bald Asian monks, no ice cream shops, no optometrists. Just you, me, and your sibling. Raksha Bandhan can be one of the most fantabulous festivals of the year, so I'm going to show you how to make that happen.