For every person who branded Raksha Bandhan a ‘North Indian’ festival, we’ve got a simple suggestion — Go outside and take a look around. Admittedly, the ‘money-for-rakhi’ routine may still be something that only immigrants from Northern India follow. But the practice of simply tying a rakhi on someone a girl considers a brother is universal.
There are so many women in the city who have tied a rakhi to siblings and people they consider brothers, who cannot speak a word in Hindi. If that isn’t proof that Raksha Bandhan in Chennai has stretched well beyond, the fact that stationery shops in the city are chock full of rakhis ought to convince you. However, sandwiched along with the rakhi, comes the celebration of another bond in the first week of August — that of friendship.
On Wednesday morning, we spotted a college girl walking towards a juice shop opposite the posher Citi Centre mall. As she was greeted by a typical college-student-type chap, she sat down quickly and said that she had only 10 minutes. After some small talk about class and low mobile balance, she told him, “Seri kaiya kaatu (Show me your arm).” He sheepishly grinned and made a couple of bad macho jokes about whether she wanted to feel his biceps.
Brushing them aside, she pulled his hand forward, took out a band with a small buckle and fastened it around his wrist. Personally, we were just waiting for some explosion or angst from the jaunty student. Instead, the guy smiled and said, “Don’t ask me for money,” and added, “You have to pay for the juice, Ok?” Just as they were leaving, we couldn’t help but ask the girl where she had gotten the rakhi. “Rakhi?”, she asked, obviously confused. “This is a friendship band,” she smiled. “Haven’t you ever gotten one for friendship day?” Brother or friend, Chennai is certainly ‘bonding’ with the best.
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