#07/23 - 8/22: Wearing Rakhi as a Fashion Statement

Ornamentation is an inescapable part of Indian culture. Girls get bengals, earrings, bracelets and rings. Even men get in on the gilded goodies, sporting necklaces and charms of their own. For the Indian male that's not into Bombay blinging with gold watches and silver chains, though, the options are pretty limited for bodily adornment.

That's why some guys look forward to Raksha Bandhan - an excuse to get something kind of fly to rock around your wrist. A Hindu festival that celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters, Raksha Bandhan is commemorated with the tying of a rakhi, or holy string, around the wrist of the brother. The rakhi itself is usually a red thread of a material courser than ribbon yet finer than yarn. It's rugged yet austere form make it an ideal accessory for an Indian male looking to add some flavor to his forearm without venturing down the road of emo sweat bands or Diesel watches.

Rakhi also allows you to hold up your wrist and shrug a feigned apology when your relatives in India gift you with bracelets, charms and amulets you'd never dare wear outside of the Fancy Bazaar in Guwahati. "Sorry, auntie," it lets you say, "I'd totally wear that silver bangle with the Sanskrit word for emu engraved on it and the sterling mesh dangling from its sides, but I wouldn't want to desecrate the rakhi's importance on my arm."

Unfortunately, as with all material attachments, those who commit to the rakhi must also face the painful day when it disintegrates in the shower. As you watch the red thread, fraught with religious significance and fashionable appeal, stick in the hair catcher your dad puts over the drain to protect the pipes from your sister's shedding mane, you ask yourself the same, burning question: when's the next first full moon in the month of Shraavana so I can get this rakhi tied again?