Love your sister? Tie her a rakhi

PUNE: Although Raksha Bandhan traditionally signifies the bond between brothers and sisters, other trends are slowly catching up whereby sisters are tying rakhis to each other or to their sister-in-law (brother's wife). However, these rakhis are different from the ones tied on the wrist of brothers.
The custom is said to have originated in Rajasthan and is followed mainly by Marwaris, Gujaratis, Jains and Agarwals, said rakhi vendor Atish Sharma."However, this tradition is fast becoming a trend in Maharashtra too."
Sisters tie the ‘lumba' rakhi, as it is called, on each others' wrists and these are quite different in appearance as compared to the ones tied on a brother's wrist. "It is beautified with dangling metal attached to the base and adorned with little bells or ‘ghunghroos' as well as sequins. The tradition is mainly followed in Rajasthan, but these days it is being followed in the city too," added Sharma.
"We import the material from Rajasthan and manufacture the rakhis here, using our own designs. The price is fixed based on the amount and quality of materials used. Mainly, we use kundan, meena as well as some metal works to make such rakhis," he said.
"The other trend is where the regular rakhis are tied by sisters on the wrist of their sister-in-law, along with the brother," said rakhi vendor Devan Patil.
He said Pune has a very cosmopolitan culture, and such new trends are beneficial for rakhi vendors, for whom the market has expanded. "Thanks to this exchange of culture, we have a wider market and varied demands to meet," Patil added.