#Rakshabandhan is synonymous with chocolates, cards and rakhis – but for our family, it’s one of those festivals that has evolved with us, involving a surprisingly big amount of food and memories that last a lifetime! That’s when we celebrate – recall the emotions, drama and fights over the TV remote or the last pizza slice.
#Mithai & Masti: 1990’s
This was the best gift for this day – either mom would make ladoos or some sweets or we’d go out to buy some. It was a sweet, simple gift, especially when running out of pocket money. But, they were only given to him, provided he won a snowball fight game – seems fair don’t you think. This ‘snow’ came from the refrigerator freezer – meticulously collected, squashed and thrown around. Then, we took a few photos on those clunky cameras that were all the rage at that time. I don’t know what’s more embarrassing, the snow fights or the cameras.
#Movie Marathon: 2000’s
Downloading movies was the only thing left we did when we ran out of pocket money. It was the era of the Torrent and we tried getting as many movies as possible, to create our own movie marathon. We watch most of them on the desktop PC. To get that cinema experience, there was plenty of food and snacks. If the movie was boring or in some cases, turned out to be a bad print, we’d turn things around into a play station competition. If bhaiya lost, he had to treat all to a very big pizza.
#Surprise Visits 2010’s
As time moves on, the way you celebrate #Rakshabandhan changes. This was one of the things we did after my brother shifted to Bengaluru for college. We’d plan these short trips to surprise him on or around the time of #Rakshabandhan. It was dosas galore at eateries that had achieved cult status, driving up to Nandi Hills or to Coorg. This made for some unforgettable selfies.
#Supersized Family Lunch: Now
Settled in Delhi now, for a job in a news media company. Sometimes he manages to break away from the grind, to try to get some time off. If this is around when #Rakshabandhan is celebrated, we keep things simple. That is, we have a big lunch at home – big eating, big laughs and big memories – reminiscing about the early years, over photos saved to my laptop – and those selfies.
These memories have been stored away on my laptop so I can revisit them whenever I want. Luckily, my laptop is protected with a One Assist plan, protecting those memories as well.