Raksha Bandhan Amid Pandemic: Exploring Sibling Love

Raksha Bandhan Amid Pandemic: Exploring Sibling Love

As COVID-19 continues to spread its tentacles across the country, many important festivals have been reduced to a low-key affair and Raksha Bandhan is no different. In fact, with the threat of a third COVID wave looming large, festivities of Raksha Bandhan, which celebrates the brother-sister bond, have been restricted for the second consecutive year. Amid restrictions on large family gatherings and parties, people have no choice but to celebrate Rakhi within the confines of their homes. My City Links gets in touch with a few siblings to know their stance on celebrating Raksha Bandhan by adapting to the new normal.

The Gen Z believes Raksha Bandhan to be an occasion to celebrate sibling bond and promise eternal support and protection to each other. With this idea, Avantika Gugnani is all set with a pre-planned online family event, which is expected to be a loud, happy Zoom call on the day of Raksha Bandhan. She has also picked out rakhis of different colours and patterns online for each of her brothers. She happily said, “Some love chocolates, while others enjoy fruits. So chocolate boxes and fruit baskets are set! I have already received some of my gifts but I’m not allowed to open it until the D-day.”

In fact, the pandemic notwithstanding, long-distance Raksha Bandhan is not new. Brothers and sisters have been moving to different cities and countries for years for studies, career or marriage and meeting virtually on several occasions. Getting together on a particular date and time for a particular festival is not always possible. Some just take it in their stride more than others like Ankush Kheria who is settled in England for the past 6 years. “Celebrating Raksha Bandhan online has been a custom between me and my sister long before the pandemic hit. So celebrating the festival apart this year is nothing new for us. The distance makes the bond stronger and I believe this way of celebration has its own charm. We wish each other over video call, and I send her a customary gift,” he said.

Then there are ones for whom Rakhi has been never been an elaborate affair so they do not mind the quiet celebrations at home! Says Baibhav Agrawal, “Other festivals like Diwali and Holi, are the ones me and my siblings really look forward to as the entire family comes together. But Rakhi is something I celebrate with my siblings as a custom and so I will be driving down to my cousin’s place for the same. It will be a close and personal affair, of course, this year with social distancing and masks.”

On the contrary, Shyama and her sister Priya totally love and look forward to Rakshabandhan celebrations! “Rakhi isn’t just a bond between brother and sister – we both also celebrate it every year and take a day off for it,” quips Shyama. Sharing the difficulties of living in the Covid era, Priya further adds, “The pandemic has been quite stressful. This Raksha Bandhan, we have decided to have a small family get together and also arrange a rakhi-tying function for our two daughters. This will be a great way for them to celebrate their bond,” 

“Work from home brings with it erratic schedules. It was difficult to manage everything with work spread throughout the day. My sister lives just 500 metres away from my house but we couldn’t meet each other because of the physical distance guideline. Despite being so close, we were forced to connect digitally since the past one year. The shopping, dinner dates and sleepovers have halted. Thankfully, our smartphones keep us connected now and our gossip still continues,” sums up Shyama.