Thursday, August 18, 2005

Raksha Bandhan memoirs

Rakhi is fast approaching. I got one for my brother through an internet shopping site. Hopefully this time it will reach him on time. As I was browsing through the different selections the various sites had to offer...I found myself remembering those 'good old days' back in my childhood days. I have always tried to get nice ones for my brother. But once, just to bug him, I had got this huge rakhi made with pink sponge flower and decorated with shiny golden, pink and green paper. If that wasn't bad enough it had this plactic moulded 'Mere Pyare Bhaiya' pasted on the top. Haha...it was fun to see my bro's face when I got out the rakhi.

Rakhi is not actually a Nepali custom. Its something we adopted from Indian culture. We have our own Bhai Tika which is celebrated during the Diwali season. On Rakhi day we have something called Quati Punhi. We cook something called Quati and as it falls on full moon day, hence the name. Quati is kind of soup/dal made by mixing 9 different types of pulses. I dont know the significance of the day but they say we have to have that nine times during the day. I love Quati ...so I never minded the nine times rule. To think its been like ages since I had Quati last! :-(

I also remember how when I was in 5th std there was this craze to tie rakhi to each and every guy in the class. I also remember me and my friends had swiped a few extra rakhis from the dukan wala bhaiya! We had some outing from school that day and I had managed tie rakhi to almost all the guys in my class except for one guy. I had searched for him everywhere but was unable to get hold of him. Years later when my friends told me, did I realise that he actually used to like me and was therefore hiding from me!! LOL!

Wishing all the brothers and sisters a very Happy and Lovely Raksha Bandhan :-) Missing you, my dear brother!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Me First!!

Yippieeeeeeeeeeee!!

Anonymous said...

Awwwwww...what a sweet post.

I was laughing so hard at the huge-rakhi prank of yours and I could well imagine your Bhaiya's face when you must have tied it.

Thank You for telling us about your traditions on rakhi. It's so refreshing to know about different cultures and how they celebrate these festivals. I love this aspect about blogging, knowing different customs.

By the way, I think I should run now and hide in my closet, coz dunno what do you girls have a thing about tieing rakhis to every guy you see. I have just too many such sisters and so I am happy being a friend...:P

Nupur said...

ME second!!

Nupur said...

I cant remember a single time that I've gone out and brought rakhi for my bro and my cousins! :)
My mom was nice enough to do it for me every year..she used to get a big set for me and one for my sister - indentical design just different colors. So no cousin would fight on the rakhis that didi and I gave them!

:D LOL!!! Colors.... so did you ever get to confront that guy about it? ;)

Anonymous said...

Brings back memories. Rakhi isnt something that bengalis follow as a custom but living outside bengal, its something that I have always followed in addition to bhai dooj (same as bhai tika which is near diwali i believe)- Never dared toget my bro a cheesy rakhi. he might have conveniently lost it if i had, I suspect!
PS: I take it that you and the guy never hooked up then! AWWWWW!

Anonymous said...

sweet post :) Me too sent rakhi to net shops :)

Moonie
http://moonietheloonie.rediffblogs.com/

Anonymous said...

thats a nice post! I wish my family celebrated rakhi! sigh...anyways, the antics u did as a lil kid wer funny....oh, and i love ur pics in hi5!

Colors said...

Hey Ricky :-) Yeah I too enjoyed that Rakhi day..but of course I had also got a normal one so that he doesnt get embarrased among his friends.
Yeah through blogs you get to know so many new things...thats why we all are so hooked!
LOL..so how many girls have tied rakhi to you even though you didnt want them to???

Sigh..! No Nupur, I never got to confront him. That time I was too young and innocent :D to understand anything. And when I did, he was long gone. Tsk!

Colors said...

Oh you are a Bengali Princess? So you are closer to home! Our customs somewhat match with Bengali ones...durga puja and all.
Yeah we never hooked up. He left for another school in another city the very next year.

Thanks Moonie. Hope yours reach on time. I need to call up home and find out.

Hey Nitty thanks for liking the post and the pics :D. Thanks for the Five..thats so sweet of you!

Anonymous said...

As a kid i used to insist for those huge ones :D

But now the simple thread is good for me :)

Nice sweet post... and great to read about Quati - i hope it is served in restaurants...

Waise, I read ur replies to the prev post - that day i had 'samosa chat' :-)

Anks said...

hee hee...... the pink sponge rakhi was a super idea..... my bro would freak out if i get him a rakhi that he doesn't like....... we have always gone together and purchased a rakhi both of us approve of......... for the last 7-8 years now, i've been tying him small sober ones....... maybe next year i'll take a leaf out of your book!!!! :D

Anonymous said...

NONE!!

I always considered Rakhi as a "national" holiday or bunk day at school...LOL. It was heart-breaking to see next day how some guys who used to think of some gals as "probable-sayiyans" would become "bhaiyas", just in a matter of 24 hours...;)

Anonymous said...

hi.... howz u... I wasn't around for sometime.. nice to c so many posts from u...

ur independence day post made me laugh... :) the prospect of eating samosas... :D and to think tat v get here samosas everywhere and don't really appreciate their value!! haha :D

and rakhi... yeah..belated happy rakshabandhan... tat was interesting... dint know u were from nepal... but i guess nepal is pretty much Indian...:) or should i say vice versa... u know it's really strange because throughout school and now even in college I never get approached by my friends to tie a rakhi.. and some guys really have to go into hiding on rakhis...!!!

Colors said...

LOL DJ, you used to like those huge ones! I dunno if they serve Quati in restaurants..maybe Rhicha could give you a better answer for that! haha..u did have samosa chat! great!!

Hi AnksHey do try out this prank next year...I am sure all the scoldings/beatings etc you might get from him would be worth the expression on his face! :P

Ricky, thats cheating..bunking school and breaking your poor porspective sisters hearts :P. U know what, yrs later, some of my classmates hooked up with the same guys they had tied rakhi to!

Hi Sadik, nice to see you again. Yeah we people so yearn for desi snacks and food. I have been dying to eat paan for a long time now :(.
Well, I am actually an Indian with Nepali background.
LOL so,u have been lucky to escape the clutches of those 'scary' girls :-) Good for you!

Anonymous said...

Hi Colors,

firstly, I really want to eat "Quati". It must be delicious.

I too remember, that in fifth/sixth how every girl in the class used to tie a rakhi. And we guys even had a competition about who got max number of rakhis but came ninth and we all started running away from Rakhi. Nice memories!

Colors said...

Hey Mehul...so good to see you after so long! Yes, I am sure you'll love Quati. LOL ..you too had to face it eh? :D