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| Families sweat it out on roads for sibling revelry | | | Munish Gupta
Jammu , Aug 5: It was a day of traffic jams in several parts Jammu as a large number of people were in all modes of transport earnest to reach the homes of their sisters to celebrate Raksha Bhandan today. Despite being a holiday, the traffic was quite heavy on the city roads
leading to snarls at several places in the morning. It took several hours for the harried traffic policemen to restore some normalcy on the roads Harried traffic police personnel struggled to restore some kind of order on the roads as many in their hurry to get to their destinations drove on the wrong side.
A senior traffic police officer said that the problem was because of the large number of private vehicles on the roads. "Even those people who would normally take the public transport, took out their vehicles as they wanted the entire family to travel together", said another officer.
Meanwhile “"Raksha bandhan", the sacred festival symbolising sister's
love for brother, was celebrated with traditional fervour and enthusiasm in the city and surrounding areas today. Since early morning, sisters visited the houses of their brothers and tied "rakhis" on their wrists and prayed for their long life and
prosperity. Similarly, brothers visited the houses of their sisters
with sweets and other gifts and vowed to protect them.There was a
heavy rush in front of sweet shops and stalls selling "rakhis"..
Raksha Bandhan, celebrated in many parts of India, marks the love and
affection between brothers and sisters. On this day, celebrated on the
full moon of the Hindu month of Shravana, sisters pray for long life
of their brothers.
Sisters tie rakhi, a thread symbolising protection with love and
affection, on their brothers' wrists. Brothers in return give their
sisters gifts and an assurance of lifelong care.
The festival also marks family get togethers as sisters travel to
their brothers' homes to celebrate.
I bought a big bunny rakhi for my brother and he liked it very much. I
also gifted him a T-shirt and prayed for his long life. He gave me a
pair of gold earrings and it's amazing," said Rakhsa Singh, a Class 9
student.
Many people have decided to celebrate the festival in the evening for
according to priests it is the most auspicious time for tying rakhi.
"The auspicious time for rakhi begins after 5 p.m. and if possible
brothers and sisters should perform the ceremony in the evening. But
there is no harm in tying rakhi before this," said a priest of a
temple at Panjtirthi.
The city saw a huge rush of people travelling to meet their brothers
and sisters. Many women and men in their best clothes were seen doing
last minute shopping, buying rakhis and sweets for the celebration.
"I could not shop for rakhi as I was out of town for some office work
and returned Tuesday. So I am shopping now and going to my brother's
house to tie the rakhi," said Shallu Sharma an Engineer.
To send gifts online, several portals are offering mega deals. For
instance, rakhis can be delivered at short notice. The mailer includes
a designer rakhi and a packet containing saffron leaves, rice grains,
a cardamom and crystal sugar.
"We enthusiastically wait for this festival as this is the day when
our whole family gathers at our ancestral house. We exchange gifts and
spend the entire day together," Mayank Sehgal, a bank executive told.
The festival, that was earlier full of simplicity and love has been
hijacked by commercial houses. Everything from the rakhis to gifts is
ready-made and gift packed. Smiriti, a craft teacher in a school said,
“In the class, we teach the students to make rakhis using ‘mauli’
beads, etc.
But when the students see the latest rakhis like that of Spiderman,
Pokeman, with gifts attached to them, they do not use the home-made
rakhis. There is too much business being generated over this festival.
Most of the sisters and brothers prefer readymade sweets and gifts.
The market has been flooded with goods, ranging from presents packed
along with rakhis, and dozens of confectionary items.”
The boys could be seen going round with tilaks. The best thing of
thefestival was that no roadside Romeo could be seen teasing girls as
they knew that the girls would catch them and tie rakhis to them.
Authorities have taken adequate measures to maintain peace and
deployed police personnel at temples and rakhi stalls. No untoward
incident has been reported from anywhere from the region so far.
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