This year, the Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan is being celebrated on August 7. Traditionally, this festival is celebrated by our Hindu brothers and sisters. The sister seeks the protection of her blood-brother or a close male friend, who in turn offers her respect and protection. Earlier, this festival was wrongly understood as a woman subjugating herself before a man as her lord and master.
In an era which is marked by movements for women’s liberation and rights, Raksha Bandhan can be celebrated as a festival that promotes brotherly-sisterly concerns and appreciates the complimentary gifts of a man and woman.
Today, many centuries later, the woman is still being considered as an object of sexual gratification and subject to man. The celebration of Raksha Bandhan can help us remember that God created man and woman as equal and complimentary partners and so a woman has every right for respect and dignity.
Jubel D’Cruz,
Mumbai, India
