Activities, Americas - Friday, August 1, 2008 0:37 - 0 Comments

AYUDH Americas: A Rakhi Bond to Fight Farmer Suicide

On the first night of the retreat weekend with Amma in Seattle, a dozen or so teenagers and twentysomethings wearing T-shirts with AYUDH across the back came up to the side of Amma’s chair. One of them held a bracelet of braided pink and blue strings, which she then tied around Amma’s wrist.

The T-shirted bunch were from the North American wing of Amma’s youth group, Amrita Yuva Dharmadhara, and the tying of the bracelet was part of a new project the group is undertaking for Amma’s US Tour. Raksha Bandhan is an Indian tradition wherein sisters tie rakhi bracelets on the wrists of their brothers. It marks the indelible bond between the siblings.

The rakhi is said to protect the brother; in return the brother vows to always come to the aid of the sister when needed. AYUDH Americas is weaving these bracelets and selling them in order to raise money for Amma’s projects aimed at ending India’s farmersuicide epidemic. Continue…