Celebs share their Raksha Bandhan plans and significance of the day
Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated globally again this year with celebrities who have also made their Raksha Bandhan plans for this year. They reveal the same while talking about the significance of Raksha Bandhan and the relationship they share with your brother or sister. They also talk about being emotionally dependent on their siblings and the best thing about having one. Here’s what they said:
Somy Ali
It’s one of my most meaningful occasions. I am very close to my younger brother and given we live in two separate States as he is in Los Angeles and I am in Miami, it’s hard to apply any of the rituals attached to this beautiful occasion. However, if he happens to be in Miami at the time, I definitely tie a rakhi and cherish the meaning behind this amazing concept. I am happy to say that soon my organisation will be bi-coastal, since I am planning to work with victims in Los Angeles. And then, I will get to see my brother more often.
Himanshu Malhotra
My sister Dharti has strictly told me to stay at home as she would visit me and tie rakhi this Raksha Bhandhan. Even my sister Pooja has sent Rakhi for me and my brother Mohit. I have to shop for gifts. Raksha Bandhan is about developing and enhancing the bond. Sisters are beautiful, they take care of you in every aspect. Whenever my sister and I meet we go to Iskon, have some food and spend time with each other. She is very precious to me. My sister Pooja also always stays in touch with me. It’s a loving and caring bond. My sisters are simple and pure and I am not emotionally dependent on anyone
Aditya Deshmukh
We usually go to our cousins place and have a party there. We have karaoke sessions and flaunt our talents. I don’t have a real sister but I love my cousin sisters. The only thing that matters to me is that you just show them how much you care for them, how much you love them on that particular day. I love them everyday. On this day, I get to spend time with them and my family and that’s the most important thing. I have a real brother and I do have fights with him at times. Our thought processes don’t match most of the time. My Bhabhi is like my sister and she is like the mediator between me and my brother. I enjoy my cousin’s company and share everything with them. I am not emotionally dependent on my cousins or my siblings.
Nivedita Basu
My sister and I don’t really celebrate Raksha Bhandhan. As kids, we used to send virtual wishes to our cousins. My sister was super strict as a child, but she was very protective about me. Over the years we have gotten closer but we still fight. We are emotionally dependent on each other. I like to keep my feelings to myself and do my things on my own. From childhood our father made sure that we stayed a close-knit family. I used to tie rakhis to some of my cousins but I don’t believe in the ritual for a day because I have the same feeling all through the year.
Jay Zaveri
Festival is one time when we get to meet our extended family. So this Raksha Bhandhan we will meet at my aunt’s place and all my buas will tie rakhis to my father and my sisters and cousins to me, and this is how we celebrate every year. I have one sister and I love her a lot. Raksha Bhandhan is more significant for my sister because she is always expecting some expensive gifts from my side (laughs), our relationship like that of Tom and Jerry. We love each other but most of the time we are fighting for the smallest of the things but I guess that’s the beauty about a brother-sister relationship. She is dadi ma, and a good support in my life. Whenever I am in a difficult situation or have some decisions to make, she will talk to me and help. If she wants to confront me then she will message me and not talk to me and that’s how our relationship is.
Ashoka Thackur
This Raksha Bhandhan we have planned to go out somewhere and stay for a day, so in this way the whole family will celebrate the day. I have a big family and have 5 sisters. Every Raksha Bandhan we meet and my sisters tie me rakhis. We talk about our childhood memories, click photos and pull each other’s legs. We all love each other, our internal connections are very strong. We wait for this festival every year because on this day all of us come together. Seeing their love for me makes me really happy and they wait for their gifts. I am the youngest among all and I can’t explain this emotion. Whenever we meet we all become kids once again and forget that we have grown up.
Mreenal Deshraj
This year is very special. I am going back home to Nagpur for so many reasons. Ashim (Matthani, her husband; entrepreneur) and I have our wedding reception from my side of the family in Nagpur, my sisters and family from all over India and the US are flying down for this get-together. And, on the very day I will be celebrating Rakshabandhan with my real brother Manish. With all this coming together, I am so thrilled. Manish bhaiyya will have all his sisters tying him rakhis this year and our whole family will be together and we’re also celebrating my marriage, which makes this a landmark celebration. All of us siblings are very close and we function as a tight unit, even though we are spread out all over in India and one of us is in the US. We are emotionally bound to each other and my family in general is very protective of me. Manish bhaiyya is the bastion of wisdom, empathy, understanding, unconditional love and all of us sisters benefit from his protective nature. He is my only real brother, the others are formalised as brothers but we do not share any blood relation. My other brothers are Dr. Kanishk, Amitabh and Vishal. They are all very protective and caring and I feel blessed to have them in my life. Won’t say I am emotionally ‘dependent’ on my family because it sounds very naive. I am emotionally very independent, strong willed and stubborn. For them to protect me and care for me is a privilege I enjoy and respect that.
Sudhanshu Pandey
I don’t have a real sister, so like every year I wait for the Rakhi from my cousins and once they arrive, I would tie the Rakhi on my hand and my wife does the needful. She ties rakhi on my hands and on my boys and that’s what we are looking forward to. The significance of Raksha Bhandhan is that you know you have a sister, who cares for you and you know that you have a sibling who has your back. It’s a beautiful feeling. I have an older brother and cousin sisters and my relationship with them is fantastic. We have family groups where we chit chat and sometimes we poke one another. Being emotionally dependent on your siblings is very natural. The best thing about having a brother and sister is that you have one other, taking care of each other unconditionally.
Charrul Malik
My Raksha Bhandhan plans have been the same for the last few years. My brother lives in the USA and my twin sister Parool lives twenty minutes away from my brother’s house, so she ties rakhi to my brother on my behalf and we celebrate rakhi on video call. It’s not possible for me to visit the USA every year. The most special thing about Raksha Bhandhan is that my brother was born only a day or two before August 11, and my sister and I were happy as it felt like God made our dream come true because we always wanted a little brother. So we celebrate rakhi two times now, because my brother’s birthday is on August 8 and Raksha Bandhan dates are flexible. This is why Rakhi is such a special occasion for us. It’s a brother-sister relation, it’s a very special bond because my brother lives far away like ‘Saat Samundar Paar’ but I am happy that my twin sister is with him. It’s a very dear relation we have. We don’t nag or bully each other and are always there for one another in good and bad times. I feel that this is what a brother-sister bond looks like. The best thing about my brother and sister is that my sister is my twin and we are very connected, my younger brother is very lovely and he’s an amazing person too. I am not very emotionally dependent on my siblings. We do discuss everything whenever we get stuck somewhere or we have certain questions in mind or we want someone to brief us we talk to each other. We connect a lot and we talk once in every four days at least and the calls are always too long. This year I am hoping to visit my siblings because it’s been a very long time since I’ve met them.
Sudha Chandran
I come from a South Indian family and we don’t have Raksha Bandhan because we have another festival where we pray for our brothers. I eagerly look forward to Raksha Bhandhan now because I am married in a Punjabi family and for them this festival is of huge significance. Raksha Bhandhan has always been very special to me because I don’t think I need an occasion to talk about my brothers and sisters. Every day they are in my prayers because they mean a lot to me. We are related by blood. I being the eldest sibling in my family the responsibility is now on my shoulder as when the previous generation leaves you and you take care of the next generation then. It’s very difficult for me to explain in words what it means to me. It’s a beautiful relation that I have with my brothers and sisters though they all are my first cousins. All the times when I felt low, my cousins always stood by me, made me laugh and move ahead in life. I always pray to God that nothing should ever come their way. Life is all about ups and downs, if at all something happens we are always together. I also feel blessed to have my cousins with me. The best thing about my brother and sister is that they are very genuine and don’t expect anything from me. It’s a relationship without expectations, unconditional love. On Raksha Bhandhan I remember I lost my closest cousin at a very young age and I was emotionally dependent on him, and was very attached to him. We also grew up together. He was my mama’s son. He almost spent his entire life with us and I always used to fight with my mom that he is more important to her than me because my mother loved him so much. Unfortunately we lost him and that was a very big setback in my life. Every Raksha Bhandhan I think about him and pray that wherever he is, may god bless him with happiness.
Mohit Malhotra
This Raksha Bhandhan, my sister has sent me Rakhi since I would not be able to go to Delhi because of my shoots and other commitments, so we will celebrate over a zoom call. I love all the Indian festivals but Raksha Bhandhan is one such festival where we get to revive our relationship with our sister and take a vow to protect her, no matter what. These traditions have an essence and it brings more closeness among the families. I share a very good bond with my sister. We are very close and share a lot of things about each other’s lives. The best thing about her is that she is all ears and always gives me better advice on what I should do. She always supports and cares for me. I think family is one thing that you always need to have, they are your strong support and I am lucky to have a family who always stood by me. You feel stronger when you know your family is always backing you.
