Today, we celebrate Raksha Bandhan in India. ‘Raksha’ means protection, while ‘bandhan’ means bond. It is a Hindu festival where a female ties a sacred thread around her brother’s wrist. Threads can be extremely simple and basic or beautifully artistic. As children, it was fun to make artistic threads. As teenagers, it was fun to make someone who was obviously crushing on you, a ‘rakhi-brother’ crushing his romantic aspirations. But as much as girls have misused this ‘rakhi-brother’ concept throughout school and college, it signifies protection. The brother is burdened with a responsibility to protect his sister and even gift her something in return on this day. When we talk about siblings, they have grown up together. So later, when the sister marries, the brother is seen as her main protector after her father passes away, to whom she can turn to if and when there is trouble in her conjugal household. In India, we seldom ever use the word ‘cousin’. They’re all brothers and sisters, especially in Hindu culture. So, one boy will end up having multiple threads around his wrist on such a day. ‘Phoolon ka taaron ka’ is a song from the movie ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ that released in 1971. The songs from this movie are alive to this day. The movie revolves around this brother who loves his sister dearly. The parents have their problems, some revolving around the father’s infidelity. The couple splits. The little boy stays in India with the mother while the little girl ‘Janice’ ends up with her dad abroad. She grows up and becomes a junkie and finds peace and tranquility among like-minded hippies. Her brother{played by Dev Anand, the star of those times} searches the ends of the earth for her, finds her and manages to get her out of her stubborn haze convincing her to return. She recognizes and remembers him when he sings this song that he used to lovingly sing for her during their childhood days when they lived together. Janice is played by Zeenat Aman, Bollywood’s boldest, most stylish actress of that time. This movie was her debut. It was a hit and her career took off. A 19year old Zeenat was Miss India in 1970. The beauty queen had even won the Miss Asia Pacific International pageant that year. A little side note: my mom looked almost exactly like Zeenat Aman during her heydays. Everyone in her college and office would call her Zeenat instead of Yvette. The usual bus she’d take to work daily, well they’d stop a bit before the actual stop so she could enter without a crowd before the others …calling her Zeenat Aman. She got a lot of attention everywhere, both good and bad for being a Zeenat look-alike. She even aged like her. So when my friends would see a picture of Zeenat Aman in the papers etc., they’d tell me about the similarities. Anyway, back to this song …as a child, I yearned to hear my brother sing this song for me. I was always about unicorns, mermaids, glitter and pink bubbles! 😉
Happy Raksha Bandhan to All!
The flowers and stars, they all say… -poem by Ruelha
One in a thousands, say the flowers. The same thing echo all of the stars! The world is full of chaos and clutter. But you and I, we'll stick together! If you get lost, I will still find you. Because blood is quite a unique glue. If you get lost, I'll bring you back. I'll come to find you so you don't lose track! Such a sacred bond. Forever it'll stay strong. Even time and distance. Cannot wipe away your existence. We're going to be together. Unlike friends of fair weather. Watch out for each other. Maybe from far away, but still a protector. Today is Raksha Bandhan. Not parents, a crush or husband. Although we're not accustomed to tying a thread. In the same house, we were brought up and bred. At the same table, meals we ate. Sometimes measuring portions from a plate. Hand-me-downs of toys, clothes and books. Covering up for mischief like crooks. The gene pool is the same. The blood that runs in our veins. We may distance ourselves or fight. But we both know, however impolite. We're not breaking bonds. Whatever the reason, however despond. The flowers and the stars, they say... You'll always be my brother any way!
- RUELHA www.ruelha.com © Copyright Protected. All Rights Reserved Image source and credit:sheetaljain.in
Song Lyrics {Hindi}
Phulon ka taron ka, sabka kehna hai
Ek hazaron mein meri bahna hai
Sari,youmar,hamen sang rahna hai
Phulon ka taron ka,sabka kehna hai
Ek hazaron mein meri bahna hai
Sari,youmar,hamen sang rahna hai
Phulon ka taron ka,sabka kehna hai
Ye na jana duniya ne tu hai kyun youdas
Teri pyasi ankhon mein pyar ki hai pyas
Aa mere pas aa,kah jo kehna hai
Sari,youmar,hamen sang rahna hai
Phulon ka taron ka,sabka kehna hai
Bholi-bhali japani gudiya jaisi tu
Pyari-pyari jadu ki pudiya haisi tu
Daddy ka mummy ka,sab ka kahana hai
Ek hazaron mein meri bahna hai
Sari,youmar,hamen sang rahna hai
Phulon ka taron ka,sabka kehna hai
Jab se meri ankhon se ho gayi tu dur
Tab se sare jivan ke sapane hain chur
Jab se meri ankhon se ho gayi tu dur
Tab se sare jivan ke sapane hain chur
Ankhon mein nind na,man mein chaina hai
Ek hazaron mein meri bahna hai
Sari,youmar,hamen sang rahna hai
Translation
Flowers And Stars, all Of Them Say
One In Thousands, Is My Sister
All Your Lives, We Have To Stay Together
Flowers And Stars, all Of Them Say
One In Thousands Is My Sister
All Your Lives, We Have To Stay Together
Flowers And Stars, all Of Them Say
The World does Not understand Why You Are Sad
In Your Thirsty Eyes Is The Thirst For Love
Come Close To Me and tell me Whatever You Have To Say
One In Thousands Is My Sister
All Your Lives, We Have To Stay Together
Flowers And Stars, all Of Them Say
You Are Like An Innocent Japanese Doll
You Are Like An Innocent Japanese Doll
Daddy And Mummy And Everyone Else Says
that One In Thousands Is My Sister
All Your Lives, We Have To Stay Together
Flowers And Stars, all Of Them Say
Since You Went Far Away From My Eyes
Since Then All The Dreams Of Life Have Been Shattered
Since You Went Far Away From My Eyes
Since Then All The Dreams Of Life Have Been Shattered
There Is No Sleep In these Eyes And No Peace In my Mind
One In Thousands Is My Sister
Inhale Peace; Exhale Love. Joy will Follow! - RUELHA 
That’s fascinating, Ruelha. We don’t have anything like Raksha Bandhan out here that I know of. Excellent poem.
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Thank you Tim. So glad you like this piece. Hope all is well with you.
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Indian national traditions are amazing.
Pretty poem Rue 🙂
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Indeed, they are. The culture and traditions out here are incredibly fascinating. Happy to hear you like this piece.
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A very nice and interesting share.
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Thank you so much AOC 🙂
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What a cool tradition Rue!!!! Missing you!!! where have you been.. how have you been?
💖💖
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Cindyyyyyyyyyy….xoxoxoxoxo
Miss you too. That’s a good question. Kinda difficult to answer right now out here especially. Hope all is great at your end. Love and hugs….
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Great to hear back from you!!!!! I know it’s tough right now. Thanks visit and catch up when you can.. 💖💖💖 xo thanks for the love and hugs and to you!💖
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Happy Raksha Bandhan Dear Ruehla You Surely Are A Sister
Worth Protecting And Yes Zeenat Aman Does Favor Your Mom
When Young Yet Still it Seems Pics of my Other Indian Friend
May More In Some Photos Uncannily Real too…
Speaking of FRiEnDS Sweetest Experience
Today Waiting For One of Our Elder Church
FRiEnDS in Her Early 80’s to Eat Lunch
With Us Today Katrina Looked Over
And Said, “There’s My Sunday School
Teacher” When She Was 8 Years Old
And As Synchronicity Will Have it Jill
was My First Grade Best FRiEnD Who i Always
Competed With in Making Straight A’s With All the
Way Through High School She Was in the Top 10
Out of 381 Students i Only Tied 11 With my other
Female High School FRiEnD
Lynn.. Gosh i had So Many
Smart Friends that Were
Girls then And i Still
Do Now
Including
You of
Course Dear Rue
Anyway Jill A Teacher
Married A Power Company
Engineer They Lived Happily
Ever After They Are Both Retired
Now And Are Down Sizing Their Farm
Home in Alabama And She Was Moving
Some of Her Things Here to Florida In Her Dad’s
Home She Was Having Lunch With And Going through
Her Things Just Days Before She Found The Senior Class
Photo From me That i Wrote A Sweet Friendship Message to
On the Back Telling
Her She Better
Not Ever
Forget
me And She Didn’t…
FRiEnDS Like That Who
Last 54 Years Are Indeed Rare
As Brotherly And Sisterly Love my FRiEnD…
It’s So Easy For me to Be A Loyal FRiEnD Yet
Seems So Hard for So Many Folks to Do that in
A World of So Many Distractions Surely Was Hard
for me too when i Worked Yet Life Feels More Like High School
Now and True Dear Rue That Was the Greatest Thing About
Being the Age of me at 17 in that Senior Class Photo FRiEnDS
IN High School
Really It Was All
About Really Moving,
Connecting, And Co-Creating
As A Whole Village of Young
People Who Actually Touched
Each Other For Real…It Was Very
Depressing to me to Lose those Connections
When i Went off to A Bigger College Very Poor
Living off of Peanut Butter Sandwiches Every Day
Commuting in An Old Car A White 1970 Maverick With no Heat
Or Cooling Three Part time Jobs Working on Three Degrees Yes
All that
Was Missing
Was Humanity…
Life’s Not Good For that…
What i Find So Much These
Days Humans Missing That Touch…
Yet Someone Like Jill Never Ever So Very Human..:)
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Thank you, Fred; that’s very kind.
Moving, connecting, co-creating…I like that concept.
Humanity has been missing since adulthood, it seems 😉 well, almost 😉
What to Do! I’m glad you were able to connect with a few good humans…. makes life so much more pleasant.
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SMiles Dear Rue Writing
EPiC Long Form Poetry
One Has To Be A
Rather Intense Social
Critic To Do It Yet Like
You Working As A
Flight Attendant
And me With So Many
Thousands of Folks in
Providing
Customer
Service For
Decades Face to
Face Very Rarely
Am i Not Able to
Create A
Peaceful
Rapport As
That is my
Born And
Bred Nature
Smiling Nice
Sadly Where
i Come From
Folks Find That
Threatening Yet
Kindness
Persevering
Ultimately Wins
In
Cooperation
Hehe With the
Patience of “Job”
Of Course
Never
Met
A Stranger
Not Even Below
A Grain of Sand
Others Who Have
The Ability to See
me Commonly
Say Both me
And Katrina
Are The Nicest
People They
Ever met hehe
Albeit Rather
Uncommon
And Strange
Like The
“Munsters”
Or “Adam’s
Family” With
Winks
Of Course
Katrina is
The “Normal
One” On All
The “TV Shows”😜
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Haaahahahahhh, the strange Munsters 😉
What is ‘normal’ anyway.
Nobody knows that today!
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SMiLes Dear Rue in Alice And Wonderland It is Said that Time Flows
Backwards Yet The Real Magic Is When the 7 Year-Old Boy Who
Looks Very Much Like A Frail 90 Year-Old Version of
Herman Munster
Hehe
Ages
in Reverse
For the Rest of
His Life in Will and
Strength Built Upon
A Foundation of Love in
Grace That Only A Mother
And A Few Close Relatives
Might Fully Embrace That Brings
A Smile That May Go Away Yet Always
Returns Eventually in Full Force of Love
So How Do The Meek Inherit the Earth the
Story Of Isaiah 53 Is Surely Not an Exclusive one
Dear FRiEnD For It is A UniVersal Human One in How
Humanity Has So Much Potential to Rise Out of So Much
Challenge in Dark Parts of Life Retaining Empathy and Compassion
For All One
Day Returning
Their Gift in Their
Journeys Out of Hell
BacK into Heaven on EartH
With Others to Share the Fruits
of Their Entire Life As LiVinG Trees
Spreading Leaves to Fertilize The Earth
This is A Journey for Everyone my FRiEnD
For the Meek to Inherit the Earth For AS Humans
We All Carry Crosses of Struggle in Some Way Either
DarK or
LiGHT
For Having
too Much And Never
Having Enough is as
DarK As Having Nothing
At All Yet As Light As Finding
Nothing at All Is Actually All my
FRiEnD Finding God in The DarK
And Finally Truly Seeing and Hearing
Without Eyes or Ears to Again Share
With the Rest of the Village for Real…
Stories Are Great As Long
As We Do Not Hold
Them as
Prisoner
For only One
Person to Fulfill
We Need More Heroes
With Dance And Song And
Stories For all mY FRiEnD
Swords And Guns and Fists
Are Just No Real Heroes in a World of Love….
The Current MacroVerse i am WorKinG on is
“With SMiLes Christmas in September” It’s Up
To All of Us Each And Every
Day to BRinG Christmas
To Life More Than
Buy and Sell
Just A Free
Give Away
For All my FRiEnD
Every Day In Life Always
Now in Full Meaning and
Purpose Inhaling Peace
Exhaling Love Words
Gifted By Dear Rue True…
Hand-in-Hand Much more
That Just 2 Or 3 to More Fully See
God in Our Midst Where Peace inhales
And Love Exhales Again You Are the
Kind of FRiEnD The World Cannot Do Without….
When i Visit Here it Always Feels Like Home With no Strings Attached…
The Reason We Go To Hell is to Forgive the Devil in Us And The DarK That is Also
God It’s A Hard
Lesson For
Even Young
Herman
Munster my FRiEnD
in Form With a Mind
Like ‘Sheldon Cooper’
For All the Parts DarK
And LiGHT That Comprise Us All….
For The Weakest Will Be The Strongest
And The Silent Will Bring the Most Words to Life…
As i Surely Never Spoke till Four Years Old With Autism
And For Those Who Are Scientists Epigenetic Response
To Struggles in Life Unlocking Our DNA Potential Make it Possible
For Humans to Regenerate Reborn As New Creations in One Lifetime…
Yeah it’s True if one Does The Research Science Backs Up a Whole
Lot of What Folks Naturally Intuited Was Possible in Sacred And
Holy Texts ACross All Religions By LooKinG Within
Digging Deep
And Finding
LiGHT At
The End of
The Tunnel
That Becomes
New LiFE in One Lifetime Now
Lifting Crosses ACross Mountain
Tops Bringing Valleys Low High As Well For All…:)
Isaiah 53 KJV
53 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
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Een mooie traditie dat altijd gezelligheid brengt.
Aum Shanthi
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Peace Be With You! 🙂
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Hello, would you like to be part of a spiritual musings WhatsApp group? It is a group for like-minded souls who’d like to share thoughts, quotes, musings and all things related to spirituality. I’ve added many friends from around the world and it is a great place with over 40 people in one day joining. Let me know if you’d like this, the aim is to create community and tribe. You may not be interested or on WhatsApp, I thought I’d extend an invitation just in case! Thank you. 🙏🏻
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