New Delhi: Raksha Bandhan - a festival that celebrates the traditional brother-sister bond - has just got more precious with rakhis of diamonds and white gold doing the rounds.
The occasion of the festival, which falls Wednesday, has seen the market flooded with combo offers, Krrish-inspired designs and online deals.
However, commerce seems to have turned the sibling festival into a vulgar race for the best, costliest and gaudiest rakhi - the sacred thread a sister ties on her brother's wrist.
The zardosi rakhi - a silk thread - is now a thing of the past along with gold or silver plated rakhis. Instead, the customer is offered real gold and diamond rakhis.
It is likely that you will stumble upon very exotic rakhi goodies - like a rakhiyon ki palki (a minakari work tray) or a rakhiyon ki doli (German silver palanquin) - an assortment of rakhis that come with sweets, gifts and freebies.
Then there are the lumbas (hanging rakhis), pachelis (armband rakhis) and hathphools (palm rakhis) waiting to be picked up. All these rakhis are also tagged in dollars and available online.
In this age of combos, the Mera Bhaiyya' (my brother) hampers and the Amar Prem (endless love) hampers have enthralled quite a few sisters.
There is a peacock thali cum wall hanging, the mogre ki mahak thali (jasmine scented), the vinay namaskar thali (humble salute) and the chand sa bhaiyya rakhi thali (brother like moon).
Unfortunately, half of these exotic thalis (hampers) have already been sold out! The special thalis come with roli, rice, crystal sugar (mishri), a ceremonial coconut as well as fancy rakhis. Some of these handcrafted thalis can later be reused as wall hangings.
"Since ancient times, there has been a class dimension to the celebration of festivals. But people spent within their means. The problem began when the middle class began a vulgar display of money. This emulative display of wealth led to a distortion of life and damaged their consciousness," says Sociologist Neshat Kaiser.
The younger tots are spoilt for choice with the array as tempting as it is toy-inspired.
There are the Spiderman mask rakhis, Donald Duck rakhis, musical rakhis, mantra rakhis, mobile phone rakhis (super telephone rakhis, sunflower ring rakhis), fighter plane rakhis, aeroplane rakhis, Hanuman rakhis, Bob the builder rakhis, Tob Micky, Choco pooh, Rocher teddy, energetic, cartoon handcrafted rakhis, Batman rakhis and puzzle playtime rakhis.
Of course, there are the Krrish rakhis, a take on the latest Hrithik Roshan blockbuster and a real sell-out.
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