Happy Rakhi Day

I have plenty of sweet childhood memories of Rakhi Day. My parents would take us to a local store to buy Rakhis a few days ahead of time. On Rakhi day, I would tie Rakhi on my Anna's (big brother's) arm and would get 25 paise (1/4 Rupee) as a gift from him. That was a big deal! One year I was lucky. I got 50 paise. (I remember I shared 25 paise with Anna and he bought a wooden top (toy) with the money.

Mom would make some yummy sweets at home so I could shared sweets with Anna, right after I tied the rakhi. Those were the days when Amma made sweets at home. Now she goes or rather sends Appa (Dad) to Bombay Halva Store or Pulla Reddy's (Sweet Stores). Gone are the days of experimentation! Mom would start making laddoos (round-sphere shaped sweets) and we would end up with lots of laddoo powder instead!! We loved them! Back then we were so happy Amma was making her famous powder!! For the record, my Amma is a great cook (right after my mother-in-law- who is just too good) - "cooker". And she still makes sweets at home- sometimes. She used to make good laddoos most of the time but we kids loved the powder more. It was more entertaining.

I am coming back to the topic now. Rakhi day is observed on a full moon day of Hindu month of Shravan (mostly comes in August). Sisters pray for the long life of their brothers and tie a "Rakhi" on their brothers' wrists. People have feasts, family gatherings and have lots of fun.

This year I could not send Rakhi to my brother who lives far from me. When I called him yesterday, he said that I could just send him a picture of it instead. So here it is. Anna, you pick the rakhi you want. And the other one is for my son. My daughter will tie Rakhi on her brother's wrist today. We have been celebrating Rakhi day for the past 3 years now. I did not make sweets! I am not sure my kids will appreciate "powder" sweets. I have some from the Indian grocery store... Maybe they like cookies better??