What will be the category of my Rakhi brother?

Whether by default or by design, every Rakshabandhan, it’s time to make a bro
There are two types of brothers in India – the brother brother and the Rakhi brother. Now, we all know who a brother brother is – someone who shares the same DNA, someone who is apna khoon. So, it can be the over-protective bade bhaiyya or the pesky younger monster in your house, or even the son of your shrill, annoying maami.And then, there’s the Rakhi brother – the brother of convenience. There is no family drama here; you tie the rakhi to a boy you know but are not related to, you get the money, and voila, you’ve got yourself another protector. But is it that uncomplicated? Apparently not, because the reasons for making a Rakhi brother aren’t always noble.
Ulterior motive: The bhaiyya-turned-saiyyan
A Rakhi brother is probably the only boy, who – even though he isn’t part of your family – you can hang out with as much as you want to and your parents won’t be able to raise an eyebrow. The folks are cool, and why not, saath mein bhaiyya jo hain. Little do they know that it’s actually the bhaiyya bane saiyyan situation. Kavisha Avasthi*, 17, says, “I have a hyper set of parents, and I just cannot confess the truth about my relationship to them. They will keep asking me where I am, and more importantly, with whom. This clever idea of making my boyfriend my Rakhi brother, at least in front of my parents, has been quite a success. Now, I can hang out with him without having to give any explanations at home. I know this sounds so wrong, but it’s not a real thing anyway.”
Default model: The desk partner-turned-bro
Rakhi can be a pretty scary prospect for some boys, so much so that they’ll even miss school that day, lest that girl in their class, who they may have a crush on, ends up tying them a rakhi. Yes, there are the teachers who will pile brotherly duties onto the boys in class and ensure that there is a ‘no-nonsense’ association between her notorious students. Twenty-year-old Gitika Anand * says, “In my school, we had this silly tradition of tying rakhis to the boys in our class. It wasn’t a matter of choice for us. It didn’t matter what sort of association you have with these boys otherwise, but every year on Rakhi, you would get one more Rakhi brother, while the one from the class before would be forgotten. It was stupid and nobody took it seriously, but our teachers got some sadistic pleasure out of doing that. I know of some boys who would bunk school the day before Rakhi, when all this tamaasha would happen, because this would kill any chances of anything happening between them and the girls.”
Get rid of the Romeo: The stalker-turned-Rakhi-brother
For some girls, Rakhi seems to be the perfect opportunity to get rid of the incorrigible Romeos. Boys tend to take the whole raksha thing pretty seriously, and once you tie a rakhi to someone, you can rest assured that he will never look at you like that again. You might break his heart and slaughter his dreams with that rakhi, but from then on, he will consider it his moral duty to protect you from all evil, which will include other prospective Romeos. And if you happen to get one who isn’t that, err, committed, even then, he will never bother you again. Twenty three-year-old Meghna Bhasin* says, “You know how some of these colony guys are, they will follow you around, offer to give you a ride and just not get the hint that you’re not interested! I had one of those until two years back, and then I told my mother, who came up with this brilliant idea of calling him over for Rakhi and tying him one. The look on his face just made my day. He was so shocked, he didn’t know what to do. But since then, he never troubled me. He never even said another word to me. The whole idea of Rakhi brothers is such a joke in my friend circle, nobody takes it seriously. But at least it can help in such things.”
(*Some names have been changed on request)