Happy Rakhi Day!

Rakhi is a very sweet Hindu holiday where brothers and sisters celebrate each other.  Sisters tie a bracelet, a rakhi, on their brothers.  Brothers give their sisters a gift and pledge to protect them.  I love this so much.

When I told Avinash and Nandini they immediately got excited.  In no small part thanks to the Elmo episode "Rakhi Road".  We have watched that episode over and over since it aired about a year ago.  Avinash was quick to remember all the girls he 'thinks of as a sister' (Lily, Nisha, Olivia to name a few) and wanted to make rakhis for. 

We made Rakhis with my twine stash and set up a little thali.  Nandini was not fully involved but sat down and gave Avinash tika and even feed him a piece of chocolate before taking one herself.  I was shocked at that.  And, I totally had to scavenge the chocolate from the advent calendars I already bought because I was too lazy to make ladoo like Avinash (and Elmo) suggested. 

I did make paneer and rice for dinner.  Thank goodness for holidays or I might never cook Indian food at home.  Also, thank goodness for my family who consider such a simple meal a real treat.  I even bought the paneer at Whole Foods, not the Indian store, because one grocery store trip a week is traumatizing enough.  I made ghee on the stove at the same time so the whole house smelled like melted butter.  This may have influenced taste buds a bit as well. 

It was such a simple and happy family night.  I am blogging this because I really want to remember this as well as I can.  Even one night later I hardly remember half the cute things they said and did.  Avinash sat down and made cards and colored pictures to send to people while I cooked.  He and Ryan sat down to read some Indian stories before dinner.  Both he and Nandini made plans to watch the Elmo episode again soon.  Seriously, what would we do without Elmo?!