David Victor Vector: August 2015

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Saturday, August 29, 2015

Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan (or simply Rakhi) is a holiday celebrating the love between brother and sister in the Hindu, Jain and some Sikh traditions. In 2017, the holiday falls on Monday, August 7.

Dating Raksha Bandhan

The holiday falls on the full moon of Shraavana, the fifth month of the Hindu calendar. Since the Hindu and Gregorian (secular) calendars do not align, Raksha Bandhan seems to move around in the secular calendar. For instance, this year, 2017, the holiday falls on Monday, August 7. In 2015, it fell on Saturday, August 29; in 2014, the holiday fell on Sunday, August 10; in 2013 on August 21 and so on.

Raksha Bandhan Traditions

Raksha Bandan celebrates the special bonds between brothers and sisters.

Rakhi wristbands

On the morning of Raksha Bandhan, sisters tie a special string or band around the wrist of their brothers. The band is call a "rakhi" and may vary from a plain but brightly-colored string to an elaborately decorated wristband (or even a piece of jewelry for some people). It is customary for both brother and sister to dress up in fine clothing for the ceremony and for the string to be tied while the rest of the family (parents, grandparents and so forth) watch the ceremony.

When the sister ties the band around, she says a prayer for the health and well-being of her brother. The sister performs aarthi, in which she ritually moves a lighted diya (stone or metal lamp) around her brother's face. After this, the sister place a tikka or tilaka (a mark of brightly colored powder or paste) on her brother's forehead.

After the sister finishes, the brother pledges to protect, honor and love his sister. In most traditions, the brother and sister then hug. In most traditions, the sister then hand feeds her brother special sweets.

Mal puas

Some of the most common sweets given include vermicelli kheer (dried pasta with cardamom, saffron, mal pua (a fried, sugary dumpling soaked in syrup). Recipes for all of these can be found at the Society for the Confluence of Festivals of India's "Rakhi Recipes" website at: http://www.raksha-bandhan.com/rakhi-recipes.html
nuts and dried fruits), banana "cutlets,"and

In some traditions, the brother then feeds his sister sweets; in other traditions, the brother gives his sister some sort of gift such as clothing or something particular to her.

Nepalese kwati

In Nepal, instead of sweets, sisters feed their brothers kwati, a special soup for the holiday. Kwati is
made of the sprouts of nine plants: chickpea, soybean, field pea, garden pea, cowpea, field bean, rice bean, green lentil and black lentil

It is customary for the brother to wear the tikka mark and the rakhi wristband for the entire day to school or work.

Happy Raksha Bandhan!

Want to Learn More?

"Rakhi: The Thread of Love,"Hinduism: About.com: http://hinduism.about.com/od/rakhi/a/rakshabandhan.htm

"Raksha Bandhan," Society for the Confluence of Festivals in India: http://www.raksha-bandhan.com/rakhi-traditions-and-customs.html

"Raksha Bandhan…" Iam33now/Slices of my life: https://iam30now.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/raksha-bandhan/

"Rakshabandhan," Know India (India.gov): http://www.archive.india.gov.in/knowindia/culture_heritage.php?id=74

"What is Raksha Bandhan (Rakhi)?" BBC: Religion: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/holydays/raksha.shtml

Illustration Sources

Rakhi wristbands: https://iam30now.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/raksha-bandhan/

Mal puas: http://www.raksha-bandhan.com/rakhi-recipes.html

Nepalese kwati: Karrattul, Wikipedia Commons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwati_%28soup%29#/media/File:Buba_kwati.jpg

Happy Raksha Bandhan, techyhunt.com:
https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=JN.DZXbK4AR68znosDMc%2fGUcQ&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300

More About David Victor's Academic Experience

I teach at the Eastern Michigan University College of Business I am also editor of the Global Advances in Business Communication. http://commons.emich.edu/gabc/

Among other subjects, I teach Managing World Business Communication, Fundamentals of Global Business, international business ethics, international business, Business Ethics/CSR, and International Management as well as a series of "Doing Business In..." seminars for business in specific countries and regions. My course at EMU in Managing World Business Communication first designed and taught nearly 20 years ago was among the first regularly taught on cross-cultural business communication in an AACSB-accredited school.

From 1996-1997, I was President of the Association for Business Communication and helped to establish the European and the Asia/Pacific regions of that organization. In 2010, I was honored to have won the Meada Gibbs Outstanding Teaching Award, an international prize given by the Association for Business Communication. Over the years, I have received 6 grants from a variety of sources including the US Department of Education and the Federal Government of Canada. .

In 1992, I was the first recipient of the Distinguished Visiting Foreign Professorship (Graduate Level) of the InstitutoTecnologico y EstudiosSuperiores de Monterrey. I was also a Visiting Professor at the University of Antwerp in Belgium in 2008 and at the Universidade do Caxias do Sul in Brazil in 2010. I also hold classes for Saint Mary's of California's TransGlobal Executive MBA students.

About David Victor’s Consulting Experience

I have consulted since the mid-1980’s, mostly in the area of international business communication, expatriate relocation and diversity management for a range of clients including school systems, hospital networks and city and state governments as well as a wide range of companies working domestically in the United States as well as in Canada, Mexico, East Asia and Europe. I have consulted and run programs for over 150 companies and organizations, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to the state governments of Idaho, Iowa and Michigan, the American Bar Association and the US Army as well as several city governments and health systems in the US and abroad.