Bond of love defies geography
By SAUMYA BHATIA
New Delhi
The saying "Distance makes hearts grow fonder", holds true for siblings who are not together to celebrate the auspicious occasion of Rakshabandhan today. As time and distance play a spoilsport everybody isn't lucky to spend this special day with their loved ones.
Says TV actor Sonia Kapoor, "I don't have a real brother, but I tie a rakhi to my cousin brother Kushal (Kaku) who is more than a real brother to me. He lives in Punjab, and I am based in Mumbai. I send him a rakhi every year. We don't meet on rakhi, but we make it a point to meet once a year and that is when I make him spend the most on me for both rakhi and Bhai Dooj. As a kid, I remember, we used to book trunk calls to speak to our cousins, but now technology is superb. Me and Kushal often catch up on the webcam on rakhi."
TV actor Raj Singh Arora said, "I haven't met my younger sister on rakhi for many years now. But it isn't that my love for her is only for that one day. My mother sends me a rakhi on her behalf and Anjalika herself sends me a rakhi, but it is the emotion that we share that matters the most. Whenever she visits me in Mumbai, I pamper her and take care of her a lot."
Singer and composer Shibani Kashyap will not be able to celebrate rakhi with her younger brother Ashish. "I will be away in Mumbai due to work. Ashish and I are very friendly, we generally don't spend an entire day with each other, but in the evenings, we go out for dinner with the family. As for gifts, there is really no surprise in store for me. He knows I love perfumes and will gift me one of those to be on the safer side," she says.
While for some it is work that broadens the gap, for filmmaker Anu Malhotra, it was a family decision that forced her to spend rakhi alone for more than two decades. Her younger brother Arjun lives in Philadelphia, US. She said, "It has been many years since I met Arjun on rakhi even though I send him rakhi every year and make sure to speak to him on that day. I tie him a rakhi whenever he visits Delhi. When we are young, we do not realise the repercussions of going abroad to study or work. One doesn't realise that the person may not come back at all. Over the years, you see less of each other."
Anu fondly remembers Arjun, she said, "He is a year younger to me. Till 13 years, I used to bully him a lot. But once he turned 13, and grew taller, I realised I can't bully him anymore. During fights, he used to pull my hair. Once a clump of hair came in his hand, and from that day onwards I used to tie my hair whenever we fought. I miss him on rakhi and I wish he hadn't gone abroad."
The festival surely brings siblings together, no matter where they are, they always know they will be there for each other.
