Vanya woke up to the soft glare of the sun streaming in from the bay window in front of her, she had barely opened her eyes when the singing birds lulled her back into a half-hearted slumber. She could vaguely hear the rustling leaves as the wind gently caressed her fringe taking her back in time to memories of the large banyan tree in the center of her village where all the children gathered each evening to play hide and seek and laugh at one another. With Rakhi right around the corner, she realized that she missed her brother who now lived overseas thousands of miles away.
Even though he was younger, she remembers that he was her first-ever friend. She recalls the day of his birth— a 9-year-old Vanya breathlessly waited for the arrival of new life after a 9-month long wait. Swaddled in blue, she tenderly held her brother in her arms and recited the Hanuman Chalisa in his ears as the little one barely opened his eyes to the world. Thereon, life changed, she wanted to give him the best of everything and she loved how he followed her around with gurgling laughter calling her ‘Vani’. Over time, Vanya grew into a tall young, slender woman and her brother, Vinay, had just reached his teens. She remembered that they had their fair share of fights- over food, the TV remote, who got to sit in the front seat when their father bought their first car! Being little, Vinay got away with most things but he looked up to Vanya and she enjoyed doting over him. Rakhi was super special, Vinay would go out of his way to fulfil Vani’s list of gifts on Raksha Bandhan with all her favourite chocolates, and post the pooja they would run off to the nearby crossing stuffing their face with chocolates and fearing that their mom would see them. They would giggle at passers-by, like Ramu kaka's forever crooked turban and Billa maasi’s constant and listless jabbering as they nibbled away at sweets and shared all the rakhi hampers.
Now that they were all grown up and Vinay was halfway across the world, in many ways they had grown apart and Vanya’s heart ached to have his comforting presence around, especially because she was newly married and was having difficulty adjusting to her new family. She felt low and missed Vinay’s buffoonery—something that he did to cheer her up. She finally mustered the courage to get up and wondered if Vinay had received his Rakhi, he would probably only open it in the wee hours of the night while she got through the day without his smiling presence. As she stepped into the hall she froze because she heard a familiar voice humming the very same Hanuman Chalisa that she sang to her brother, “could it be real?”. She rushed into the hall, to find it completely decorated, on the table lay a powder blue hamper swaddled with all those childhood snacks that they gorged on together. Vinay was standing right there, well not physically but virtually through the laptop, mischief written all over his face, he said: “you’re late lazy bum”. Vanya gasped and her eyes welled up with tears of joy. He asked her to stop being an emotional fool in his usual condescending tone and get on with the pooja as time was running out. As Vanya put aside the Raksha Bandhan ki thali, Vinay proudly tied the Rakhi that she had sent and did the needful tilak ceremony at his end. He then told her that he missed her dearly and to make the day special he had ordered a simple hamper of goodies from rozana.in—a cumulative basket of all their favourite things, things that carried special memories and meant much more to the two of them than expensive possessions and gifts. They chatted away and pulled each other's leg for the next hour, Vinay logged off and Vanya realized how much better she felt, she could finally happily start her day and look forward to the next day as well!
This Raksha Bandhan 2021, let us swear to not only protect a sister or a brother physically but also think of their mental health and the fact that on certain days nobody but you can comfort the other! Curate some amazing Raksha Bandhan gifts for sister or Raksha Bandhan gifts for brother with personalized hampers on rozana.in to take your first step out of many to maintain your sacred bond. You can also find the best Raksha Bandhan rakhi on rozana.in and get it delivered to your brother’s doorstep. Happy Raksha Bandhan!
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