Every year, women across India tie rakhis to their brothers on Raksha Bandhan . Today, at least some of those women will be upturning the idea behind the ritual – by tying rakhis that announce that they need no brotherly protection, thank you.

The rakhis carry the words, ‘ Akeli Awaara Azaad Ka Bhai ’ (brother of one who is free-thinking and independent). The package comes with new vows to redefine the sibling relationship: “To love and protect each other; co-nurture, not control; celebrating Rakhi free from patriarchy.”

The rakhis are part of the Bengaluru-based Blank Noise project’s Akeli Awaara Azaad campaign. For Jasmeen Patheja and her team at Blank Noise, a group that works on ending street harassment and gender-based violence, there was always a lingering sense of discomfort around this idea of being protected.

Blank Noise is hoping the rakhi festival becomes the celebration of an egalitarian and reciprocal relationship where “brothers and sisters can both protect, love and co-nurture”. Instead of focusing on the concept of sisters being saved or protected by brothers, the initiative interrogates the idea of protection itself. “Are we being protected from another man -- possibly another rakhi bearer?” asks Patheja.

Designed and packaged in-house, the limited-edition rakhis are sold online for Rs 299 each. Patheja claims the rakhis have got enthusiastic response, especially from people who had stopped celebrating the festival. “Someone mentioned that she never celebrated rakhi because she didn’t feel the need to be protected, but this was one rakhi she did want to gift her brother. She was looking forward to renewing the relationship,” Patheja says.

