Small screen celebs get emotional talking about their plans for this year’s Raksha Bandhan!

#RakshaBandhan Is around the corner and people are happy that this year they’ll be able to celebrate it with their near and dear ones. Tele-Celebs too are joyous because they too are keen to meet their families, extended families and more importantly their siblings. Small screen celebs like #ParullChaudhry, #ManishWadhwa, #SharadMalhotra, #SnehBinny, #YaminiMalhotra, #ChitraVakilSharma share special childhood memories around this festival.

Raksha Bandhan is around the corner. This special day for siblings is celebrated all over India with much excitement. Rakhi defines the special bonds that siblings share with one another. The day is all about tying the rakhi while making promises to be with each other throughout, exchanging gifts, pleasantries, gorging on delicious food and having loads of fun with your loved ones. Such beautiful traditions create memories that we cherish forever. Celebrities talk about their fondest rakhi memory from their childhood days and how special their siblings are in their lives. They also share their plans for celebrating Raksha Bandhan this year.

Parull Chaudhry: My fondest memory would be getting all of us together at one place. I have four masis and one mama, and I am very close to my maternal side of the family. I don’t have real brothers, we are just two sisters, and we both bond very well with our cousin brothers. My fondest memories would be tying rakhi, getting gifts in return, eating together and having a lot of fun. Brothers are definitely special and so are sisters, I have a younger sister, Snigdhaa Chaudhry by profession she is Food writer/ blogger and food stylist she is very special. I look forward to spending rakhi with them and like last year this time too I will send them their gifts online. I will be tying rakhi to my sister and we will have some sweets and video call our cousins.

Manish Wadhwa: There are so many memories of Raksha Bandhan. My younger brother, my elder sister Rajiv Wadhwa and Geetu didi and I used to wait for rakhi every year as mummy always made gol gappe, dahi chaat, chole bhature at home on that day and we all family used to meet and celebrate. Now I don’t have my mother and younger brother with us. This time I will celebrate rakhi the same way as I have been doing with my sister. She will come over and we will have a good time and also video call our brother.

Sharad Malhotra: Memories of rakhi include when a lot of cousins used to be together and we used to enjoy delicacies including chocolates and mithai. This year, because of my work commitments, I won’t be able to travel to Kolkata for rakhi. I will be celebrating the festival virtually with my sister Reema Pawa. The pandemic has changed the way we look at life and even festivals I feel. At the same time, we should not let the virus bog us down and keep our spirits high. I would like to wish everyone a happy Raksha Bandhan and loads of fun and good health.

Sneh Binny: When I was a kid, I used to love cartoon rakhis and the bag in which mom used to get chocolate boxes to give my sisters after they tied the sacred thread around my wrist. I used to visit my cousin sisters and have around 18 rakhis on my hand and was super proud of flaunting them. I have one sister of my own, and she’s really special to me Palak . We are also like Tom & Jerry, annoying each other, but we always look out for each other. She got married in February this year and moved to Surat. So this rakhi she would not be in Mumbai and I would be flying out to Dubai this weekend for work. But, we already celebrated rakhi when we were travelling to Kerala as she and her husband were also with us on the trip.

Yamini Malhotra: Rakhi celebrations when we were kids were amazing. We used to go to my nani’s house and all the cousins used to have so much fun. We all used to wear the best of our Indian suits and kurtas. I am very close to all my maternal cousins. We are all one big gang who do a lot of masti and party together. We brothers and sisters are each other’s support system. We share our tensions, sorrows and pull each other up if any of us feels down. This rakhi I won’t be going to Delhi because of the shooting schedule. I will be celebrating my rakhi with my reel brother Omkar (Mridul Sinha, actor).

Chitra Vakil Sharma: Rakhi is a huge festival for the “Vakil family”. We have satyanarayan puja every year on that day and then we do the rakhi tying ceremony. I have only one brother, who is older than me. His name is Rahul Vakil. Every year rakhi has been very special and the get-together that we have with cousins is always fun. And every rakhi we create a memory, however the last rakhi will always be closest to my heart. I was in two minds whether to be a part of the celebrations or not due to Covid but then I decided I should and my brother was sleeping and I surprised him. We were so thrilled to see each other post the lockdown.