Raksha Bandhan special: Fame never changed these bhai-behen bonds

The festival to celebrate the brother-sister bond is here and famous names from Indian television talk about their sibling relationships. Many are, despite their current fame, the little sis or kid brother that they always were.

Shweta Rohira on Salman Khan

It makes me feel proud to have a rakhi brother like Salman Khan, who has the strength to live life to the fullest with strength and dignity. I’m lucky to have a big brother who’s an inspiration not only to me but to many young minds as well. His popularity lets me know that hard work always bears fruit. Yes, people always ask me about him and wish that they’d get a chance to meet him and be associated with him.

He’s a very caring brother to me. Like every brother, he’s protective as well. We share a very special bond and I know that he’ll always stand by me whenever I need him. My first memory is going to be my favourite one. I was in 7th standard when I reached bhai’s house to tie a rakhi on him, and he welcomed me with so much warmth and affection. That will always be very special for me.

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Ssharad Malhotraa on Reema

My sister Reema treats me like a younger brother. No matter how popular I become, I’ll be her younger brother. My popularity doesn’t change anything for her; she still gets me chocolates and sweets on Raksha Bandhan. She’s very proud and happy for my success so far, and she’s my elder by eight years, so she’s more like a mother figure to me. The best thing about her is that she has been the same for years, irrespective of me working or not working. My star status doesn’t affect her.

My fondest memories of Raksha Bandhan are from last year. I went to Kolkata, and met my sister and my cousins after seven months, and it was a nice family get-together. We had a lunch where my mother cooked my favourite food: rajma chawal, paneer butter masala and my sister cooked my favourite gajar ka halwa. She surprised me with a gift, which was a very expensive watch, as she knows I love watches and it was my favourite brand.

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Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya on Aishwarya

For my siblings Priyanka (who’s elder to me) and my younger brother Aishwarya I’m just a silly sister. They’re very humorous and their favourite way to pass the time is pulling my leg! They balance me out from both sides. My sister swells with happiness seeing her little one doing well, while my brother shies away from all the attention as his didi is so normal for him. My sister is proud of me, and I’m proud of him for being the gentleman that he has turned out to be.

Every Raksha Bandhan in Bhopal, my home town, used to be memorable, as our entire khandaan used to come together to celebrate it. There would be a family lunch (after the ceremony), we’d play a lot of games, and of course, our grandparents would bless us. Now, however, we’re all in different towns, owing to the different kinds of work we do, so the festival now depends on posts and couriers.

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Karan Tacker on Sasha

My sister is too cool for school — she doesn’t get fazed by any of this [fame]. In fact, she gets very excited when we get clicked together at events, etc. If anything, I think she’d like more attention than what I get! If she’s reading this, assume I’ve been smacked on my head already! (laughs)

There are so many fond memories. Once I was shooting my daily soap and I left for a 7am shift. I wasn’t to be back home until late night. My sister decorated a thali, and bought the rakhi to my set! We did the ritual in my make-up room, quickly in the middle of shoot takes. For some reason, every year, we take out our childhood pictures of Raksha Bandhan, and relish those memories, especially the ones where I’m touching my sister’s feet. Till date, that’s a thing in my house.

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Dheeraj Dhoopar on Shaila

My sister is elder to me and she doesn’t care how popular I am or how big a fan following I have. She still bullies me and has the same kind of affection as we had when we were kids. Every Raksha Bandhan, we get together and celebrate the festival with the same amount of zeal. In fact, she finds it very amusing that I have such a huge fan following and often pulls my leg.

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First Published: Aug 25, 2018 18:32 IST