A Very Special Rakhi

Let me share my experience of Raksha Bandhan this year. My friend had called up the Kolkata office of Missionaries of Charity beforehand and had acquired the permission for us to visit Shishu Bhavan on the day of Raksha Bandhan.

The time of 11-00am to 11-30am were allotted to us. We reached the gate of Shishu Bhavan at 10-50am. We were taken to meet the children just at the stroke of eleven. The children stood in a well-organised line and bore a disciplined attitude.

We took out our bag of Rakhis and tied one on the right wrist of each. The faces of the children glowed in happiness and excitement.

We took out the boxes of sweets and distributed those among the children. Some gave shy smiles while others were very expressive about their happiness. Some of the children asked us to share their sweets. We did that to make them feel good.

One of the girls sang a Rabindrasangeet for us. She had a lovely voice and we were spellbound. A boy recited a Bengali poem written by Kazi Nazrul Islam. It was about equality and humanity and the way he recited it made our eyes moist.

Since my childhood I have spent many Raksha Bandhan days in many a happy way. But Rakhi of this year will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Hello Piya ,

I am very impressed with your Rakhi celebration. There is nothing like bringing smile on the children’s face. Anyways, my bro is away in US so I called him up and wished him ‘Happy Rakhi’. He said my gift is on its way, yeah!!! This is the second Rakhi that bro missed.
Anyways, hope that next year I will be tying Rakhi on his wrist.
You all do share…

Bye,

Shreya

Hey Piya and Shreya,

To Piya I am really touched by your post. That is really a nice thing that you and your friends have done. Well, my rakhi celebration wasn’t different from the other years. My sister and I tied rakhi on my brother’s and cousins. This festival is not grandly celebrated like ‘bhai phonta’ in my house. I got loads of chocolates and a movie DVD as presents.
Since my brother and cousins have office, it had to be a fast ceremony. Time constraint!!!

Take care,

Love,

Aditi