Analysis Of Raksha Bandhan

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I have cumulatively spent 16 months of my life in India. As I spend summer after summer there, it is difficult to ignore India’s public display of oppression towards women. With that in mind, I recently made an attempt to re-examine many of the cultural norms that I had previously accepted as just being "the natural order of things." I never critically thought about the sexism embedded in the Indian culture that is an integral part of my identity, but on the last day of our trip, I found it staring right in my face as we were about to celebrate Raksha Bandhan. Raksha Bandhan is a mythological Hindu ritual that falls every year around the first week of August. Celebrating the bond of sisters and brothers, it involves tying of a ceremonial …show more content…

“Come Satya, I do not understand why you take so long to get ready. You even missed Puja!” my mom said. (Puja is morning Hindu prayer.) As I sat down for yet another breakfast of Idli (steamed rice cakes typically eaten with a coconut dipping sauce), my Grandpa mentioned that today was Raksha Bandhan. Raksha Bandhan never made sense to me because my brother, Surya, and I never experienced the typical brother-sister stereotype perpetuated by this celebration. We always functioned as informal colleagues, sharing our intellectual journey together, which overshadowed the vacancy of a loving sister-brother relationship. Frankly, I preferred it that way because we were never obligated to do anything for each other, even for special occasions. In light of this, it is no surprise that the fact that I had tied a string on my brother’s wrist seeking his protection from adversity irked me over the years. In retrospect, we had always operated as independent individuals, fighting our own trials and tribulations without help from each other. With this type of kinship, the prospect of Raksha Bandhan and what it stood for was an alien concept to both of us. So, for the first time in many years, I had expressed my …show more content…

That way, it symbolizes the equal bond we have always had with each other. Besides, girls should not be raised to believe that their empowerment relies on a man’s assistance and approval. Instead, it should be recognized that both genders are capable of protecting one another.” I heard snickering from the cleaning lady in the kitchen. As everyone shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, my dad remarked, trying to break the tension, “Are you trying to be a feminist, Satya?” with a wide grin on his face, as if being a feminist was a ludicrous concept. However, it must be kept in mind that I come from a highly educated family that is exceptionally open-minded (or at least I thought so). As a matter of fact, even though foeticide rates are high in India, my great-grandfather sold all of his lands to send his five daughters, now physicians, to school. Since I garnered such an uneasy reaction to my words from a particularly forward-thinking family, I started to doubt myself. “Am I acting like a privileged, radical feminist who finds a way to blame the opposite sex in every situation?” I thought. “Besides, maybe they are right. Raksha Bandhan has been practiced for many years and no one ever had a problem with it.” So, I succumbed and accepted defeat. I once again tied a Rakhi to my brother and my life went on. All that I

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