News on the Festival of Rakhi

The grand celebration of Raksha Bandhan commences many months in advance as it is a much-awaited festival. The preparations have already started with more than a month left for this grand occasion. As for the festival, we all know this auspicious festival celebrates the love that exists between siblings, especially a brother and a sister. Rakhi has become a significant occasion in India and it is not confined to only private family events. But has become a newsworthy festival that focuses on bringing change along with the sense of harmony. Every year something new and newsworthy happens nationwide. There are many rituals and customs associated with this event that vary from region to region. Hence, things like significant campaigns, fairs, and much more also happen where there is an Indian community throughout the globe. This festival of love brings a positive impact on the whole of humanity which is why it is celebrated by various dignitaries and people’s representatives. Such celebrations always take place on a large scale, including women and children from all walks of life. Thus, we also bring to you some newsworthy Rakhi celebrations that bind together the complete globe with the strings of brotherhood.

Raksha Bandhan Celebrated by the Home Minister

Everyone follows their respective traditions quite diligently, however, but it is the children who have the most fun on this occasion. They spend the entire day in high gaiety and their joy knows no bounds. So, once our honorable Home Minister of the Indian Government Rajnath Singh took the initiative to celebrate Rakhi with the little angels. During Raksha Bandhan, many school students visited Mr. Singh at his home to celebrate the festival with him and tied a Rakhi on his wrist. Rajnath Singh gifted the students with many lovely gifts that they instantly liked. He even wished them for their future endeavors and wanted them to have a happy and productive life. This Rakhi celebration expressed how much he loved children and cared for the future of this nation.

Prime Minister Celebrates Rakhi with Kids and Widows

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is well known for his efforts in trying to foster peace and harmony. This comes even more to the forefront through the way he celebrates the Raksha Bandhan festival. He celebrates this day with children from various schools and women from different associations. He receives all of these honored guests throughout the day at his residence as well as in his office. The women who visit him on this day include widows from places like Vrindavan and Varanasi who are now becoming a more accepted part of society through such endeavors. During previous years these women were also given the privilege of tying Rakhis on the hands of Narendra Modi and he had said that he felt honored and humbled. He further added that his mother herself being a widow for so long, he knows the importance of such an event. These Rakhis were mostly collected from women social workers and female craftswomen handmade across the state. Hence, a celebration with a dignitary who includes everybody in the celebration.

Rakhi Celebration with Nation’s Protectors

The appeal of this bond is universal and the celebration spans not only between own siblings but also many other sections of society. Many schools arrange for children to tie rakhi to army soldiers. This endeavor is a symbol of universal brotherhood and to make the children, as well as the soldiers who protect the nation, feel special and foster the spirit of love.

Celebrating Rakhi with military personnel in schools in India

Celebrating this spirit of patriotism on Raksha Bandhan, students of Narbheram Hansraj English School tied the sacred thread to army men at the Sonari-based army camp. Over a dozen girls of Classes XI and XII expressed their gratitude to soldiers for their Raksha with the Bandhan. The girls expressed their feelings by saying that they felt blessed to tie rakhis on the wrists of brothers who protected and kept them safe around the year. Scholar Field Public School, Patiala students celebrate Raksha Bandhan by visiting the Military Cantonment to tie Rakhi to Army Soldiers. The soldiers expressed their gratitude towards the students and also had the feeling that they were not alone and the whole nation was standing with them. These soldiers who live far away from home year-round from their sisters felt homely with the newfound sisters.

Celebrating Rakhi with UK Armed Forces

Rakhi celebration is no longer limited only to the Indian nation as people belonging to this ethnicity have settled everywhere. The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom also took part in the Raksha Bandhan celebrations with much enthusiasm. This grand event promoted a better stage of understanding between the Indian community and the Armed Forces. The great contribution of the Indians to the British Armed Forces since the World Wars was also recognized. However, this celebration was a secular one with girls from different cultural backgrounds tying Rakhi threads on the wrists of many members and dignitaries belonging to the Armed Forces. Thus, this brings a harmonious way to celebrate Rakhi and spread the essence of brotherhood that Raksha Bandhan stands for.

Rakhi Celebration to Promote Anti-Tobacco Campaign

Rakhi does not only mean making merry, having fun, and forgetting all about it the next day. One such initiative was taken by the Rajasthan government ahead of Rakhi as a measure to make the society tobacco-free. In the Anti-tobacco campaign launched by the Rajasthan government, the government urged the girls to make their brothers take a pledge to not consume tobacco. This should be the gift that the sisters demand of their brothers instead of any material gifts, as this will in return improve the life of their brothers. This became a life-changing experience for the brothers. The campaign served the purpose well of the sisters protecting the brothers from the evilest of things, just as the bond of Rakhi suggests.

Special Privileges for Women on Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan has become one of those festivals that has leaped the walls of the house and has started to visit every road and corner to make things better. It has started to bring trivial but revolutionary changes. Many public events are organized by the government, schools, institutions, NGOs, and other such organizations to foster a spirit of brotherhood, unity, and a sense of responsibility amongst all citizens of the country. One such event took place when women enjoyed free travel in non-AC buses in Delhi on the day of Raksha Bandhan. Sheila Dixit greeted people on this occasion and announced that women would be given free bus rides in non-AC buses of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Ramakant Goswami, the then transport minister, arranged for women to travel free of cost from 8 AM to 5 PM. This initiative organized by the Delhi government helped a lot of women to reach their brothers on time and very conveniently. Not only this but as we know Varanasi or Benaras is home to many widows who have mostly lost their husbands at an early age. The widows in Varanasi have sent various handmade Rakhi threads for the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. They also tied beautiful Rakhis on the wrists of all those whom they consider to be their brothers. The propounder of this initiative was Mr. Bindeshwar Pathak who also received a lot of Rakhi from them. This is another initiative taken by Goverment officials apart from Narendra Modi about which we talked earlier. 

Raksha Bandhan tying Southeast Asians in an unbreakable Bond

There are many Indians in Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore who celebrate the festival of Raksha Bandhan with much fanfare and elan. There are several special arrangements made to make the celebrations fun-filled and exciting. Shops are decorated with colorful and vibrant rakhi threads; sweet stalls are also decorated and have specially made sweets for the occasion. Moreover, many Indians do look forward to such celebrations and gatherings which allow them to connect with other Indians living in the country. The celebrations of Raksha Bandhan come as one more opportunity for Indians living in the country and developing a community feeling, almost as good as living in India. The objective is to celebrate the festival together and bring about a feeling of community in a country far off from India. 

Rakhi in West Bengal: The Rakhi Making Hub

The Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) has said that it plans to initialize a Rakhi Hub in Howrah. The hub is targeted to help out the 20,000-odd artisans who make Rakhis for a living. The city, which houses most artisans of the rakhi-making community has rakhi-making as one of the major cottage industries of the area and generates an annual turnover of approximately Rs 30 crore. The industry is largely scattered and unorganized and is also interrupted by a lot of middlemen from the closest business hub of Burrabazar who end up exploiting the artisans. Hence, this Rakhi Hub would be set up where they would be allocated space for the weekly Mangalahat - said a senior TMCP party member. The hub will not just provide space for the artisans but suppliers too would be given space so that the artisans do not have to depend on middlemen and can buy raw materials directly from these suppliers. Representatives of the body went door to door and identified the rakhi artisans who deserved a place at the hub.

B-Town Celebrating Raksha Bandhan in a unique way

Celebrities and B-town big names do not fall behind when it comes to flaunting their love for their siblings. Not even, the legendary Nightingale of India herself, the late Lata Mangeshkar. She once took to Twitter to make a special tweet about the special occasion. On Raksha Bandhan, the legendary Lata Mangeshkar made sure to spread the warmth of Rakhi with a wish on this festival. She also wrote “Namaskar. Aap sab ko Rakhi ke pavitra tyohar ki bahut badhai aur mangal kamnaye” along with the link to the video of the song and her picture with her brother. Asha Bhosle visited the city of Guwahati where she tied Rakhi threads on the wrists of these soldiers. The army personnel was elated by her presence and they greeted her with Jaapi which is the traditional hat of Assam. Deepika Padukone, the Filmfare-winning Bollywood actress may not have a brother of her own, but one Rakhi, she decided to make one! She tied Rakhi on the wrists of her bodyguard, Jalal, and made him her ‘Rakhi brother’. Jalal works round the clock and is the one who looks after her wherever she goes. Jalal, who has been working with the actor for two years, is called Deepika’s ‘one-man army’ by her team members. The actor also considers Jalal her family, since she doesn’t live with her parents in Mumbai. The special bond they share makes Deepika feel safe and secure with him and she thinks that is what Raksha Bandhan is all about.

Shower of Rakhi Gifts with and Fun with the Small Screen Stars

Akira aka Sonakshi Sinha made a grand appearance on The Kapil Sharma Show and had a gala time with Kapil Sharma and the rest of the team. Sonakshi became part of the madness that is part and parcel of The Kapil Sharma to promote her action thriller Akira. Kapil who usually gets his way through flirting with all the Bollywood leading ladies who appear on The Kapil Sharma, could not pull off the same trick on Sonakshi! She was successfully able to tie Rakhi and they are siblings for life now. Several TV stars celebrate Rakhi by giving unique and extravagant gifts to their sisters. Gautam Rode, of Saraswatichandra fame, likes to gift his sister Rashmi with long-lasting gifts like Tag Heuer watches and jewelry. Pavitra Rishta star Rithvik Dhanjani takes his sister Heena on a full day of shopping as she loves to shop. Karanvir Bohra from Qubool Hai has decided to open a Tim Horton’s cafe with his sister Meenakshi who is in Canada where this is a very popular franchise. These stars just like us love their sisters to the core of their hearts and never fail to celebrate the festival with tons of gifts and surprises.

Such is the bond of Raksha Bandhan that it compels people from all over India and other neighboring countries to bring change and celebrate it uniquely. This news on the festival of Rakhi is nothing but evidence that this festival compels and brings people together and unites them with a harmonious bond of brotherhood. Thus, if people around the world can do so much then you don’t have to worry about the distance that keeps you apart. All you need to do is send Rakhi and Rakhi gifts with the help of the gifting websites to any corner of India from any part of the world and celebrate the day with love!