Rain gods spare city on Raksha Bandhan as Amdavadis celebrate the festival with aplomb.
Eighteen-year-old Reema's face lit up on Friday morning as the sun shone outside her window after three days of overcast sky and rains. As she applied kohl on her brown eyes and adjusted the dupatta of her new red silk anarkali kurta, Reema made a mental check of all the smartly wrapped 'branded' chocolate boxes, tray of kanku and the Rakhis that were kept ready on the table.
She rushed down the steps from her room to tie the first Rakhi on her brother Varun's wrist and then sashayed into the sunshine to seal the bond of love with her cousin brothers for a morning full of merriment and frolic, collecting gifts and spreading joy with a contagious smile.
Reema joined millions of happy ladies of Amdavad out in their stylish finery marking the first occasion of the festive season with Balev - Rakshabandhan. This joyous excitement was reflected in the smiles of women across ages and class barriers who looked forward to tying the simple but powerful thread that signifies a lifetime of love and faith between a brother and sister - the glowing Rakhi.
The auspicious festival was celebrated with joy and aplomb characteristic of Amdavadis with oodles of sweets, inventive chocolates, luscious soufflé, puddings and cakes, faraal and farsaan being gorged.
The wrists of little men resembled a cluster of rakhis of cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse , Zoo Zoo, Doremon and others. The well-heeled flashed thin gold and silver rakhis. While some sisters visited their brothers in different parts of the city, others lived the Balev magic through web-cameras with their brothers overseas.
The streets of Amdavad were recovering from three days of incessant rain. Traffic snarls on potholed roads and unmanned crossroads had turned evenings into a nightmare for families out for dinner. But these irritants could not douse Reema's spirits, who sealed the day with an evening out with her 'gang' of cousins at a swish new dessert joint in Amdavad. 2011's season of celebrations had begun.
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