Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
By Akash Kumar
Rakshabandan is one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism; on this very day a sister indues a particular type of thread to her brother’s wrist as a sign so that a brother can protect her in every moment of the life. The brother promises to keep her from evil’s eyes. However, in today’s modern era various responsibilities occur as how a brother protects, behaves and cares for his sister. With today’s every hour altering era the responsibilities and the concerns of a brother for his sister have to be given due time and attention in Hindu society. For instance, a brother taking responsibility of educating his sister can bring a good status of her in society as in Hindu community most girls remain uneducated due to the lack of support from the brothers and the families.
No doubt brothers support for their sisters’ education can change the life of sisters in the Hindu community. What is next in line is that a brother can stand as an ideal to his sister, be it through his character, behavior, lifestyle or any other skill. Since it is believed that the children are the best imitators and the best followers of their elders’ traits so a sister can also adopt brother’s behavior or the character since it is a psychological fact that sisters tend to follow and copy their brother more than any men in the world. Furthermore, a brother can be her true guide and a motivator for his sister as by motivating her for her Career, guiding her on her way to the education, helping her achieve her goals, knowing about her wishes, helping her to fulfill these wishes and trying to stand as her best friend so that she can share everything of her life with him without any hesitation. These can be the signs of on a good brother. Apart from this the most serious issue of Hindu girls or sisters in the community is about the concept of the “Jahaiz”/dowery as majority of the Hindu girls remain unmarried for their poor parents cannot bear the demands of the “Jahaiz”/dowery and sometimes the parents for saving their own status in the society feel compelled to take loans so that they can get their daughters married. The trends of “Jahaiz”/dowery differ from the community to community. For example, in some communities there is a trend of making a whole furniture of boy’s room, giving their daughter the qualitative LED, freezer and gold chains and so on. However, a rich may come up with such trends and demands but there is no way for the poor to fulfill such trends.
As a brother of any sister one can play his part to decrease these very trends of the “Jahez”/dowery from the Hindu society. For instance, being a brother and thinking of his sister’s future, if the same brother gets married, he should avoid the trend of “Jahaiz”/dowery and he should not get anything else except a girl. A change may occur in the society likewise if whole the community adopts certain practices. The consciousness regarding “Jahaiz”/dowery has to be spread around by every young brother.
Above all responsibilities can make a good sensible and responsible brother in Hindu community.
The writer is a teacher, writer and a social activist.
Published in The Balochistan Point on August 4, 2020
