How a Poet Promoted Peace During Conflict

This year, Aug 22 is Raksha Bandhan (literal meaning: safety bond). This is a festival celebrated mostly in India and Nepal among Hindu, Jains, and Sheikhs, to honor the bond between sisters and brothers.

The sister ties a bracelet, also known as ‘Rakhi’ around her brother’s wrist, and the brother gives a gift to his sister. Just like other festivals, there is a traditional story behind it, and people value the story.

More than the traditional story, what interests me more, is how people have perceived and used this festival to promote peace and understanding during troubled times.

. . .

I remember celebrating this festival when I was growing up in Nepal. Now that our family is spread all over the world, and we have taken on different philosophies, we haven’t celebrated this festival for over a decade.

Which is why I was interested to hear about it from a friend in India. In my conversation with her a few days back, she expressed her excitement about celebrating this year’s Raksha Bandhan with her family, and how in her family, the Rakhi (bracelet) tying wasn’t limited to just sisters and brothers anymore.

Sisters could also tie the bracelets between themselves, or with anyone else with whom they felt a meaningful, sibling-like bond.

Hmm…this caught my attention. So I discussed with her further on this topic to get a better understanding about the festival and how her family was able to expand the traditional practice towards more inclusion.

Having grown up in a culture that suppressed women and discriminated people based on caste, I felt hopeful and inspired by her story. A real-world story.

I wanted to learn more about this festival —especially if it was being used to promote fraternity. If a family was doing it, could a community do it as well? If so, how?

. . .

In doing this research, I learned about the “Rakhi,” a campaign initiated by Rabindranath Tagore to promote peace, understanding, and unity between Hindus and Muslims in 1905. This was his peaceful weapon against the British who were trying to divide India.

Tagore, mostly known as a poet, was a polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature. As a humanist, he denounced the British rule over India.

In 1905, the British led the effort in trying to create a division within the Bengal region based on religious grounds, which started the Hindu-Muslim conflict. The day the partition came into effect coincided with the day of Raksha Bandhan.

Tagore led a protest against the imposed partition and urged Hindus and Muslims to tie Rakhis on each other’s wrists as a symbol of harmony and solidarity.

Hundreds of people — Hindus and Muslims — came out and tied Rakhis to unite.

Although the British were successful in dividing India based on religion (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), the Rakhi incident planted the seed for unity. It showed that people in India never wanted the partition.

. . .

The practical idea of expanding an already existing festival centered around love and unity, to solve a humanitarian crises must not be ignored. This idea saved lived at that time, and prevented conflicts and possibly even a war.

Tagore’s genius was to see the possibility of saving human lives from an impending crisis. And turning that possibility into reality by taking something that was already working, and expanding it.

It could also be used now, for the same purpose. For peace and unity. Or at least plant the seed for unity and co-existence, as Tagore did in 1905.

In face of all the crises we are living with today, Tagore’s “Rakhi” campaign present a viable option for peace.

It also makes me think of “Tiny Habits,” coined by Behavioral Scientist BJ Fogg. Big changes happen through small modifications in routines that are already working. This is a powerful and effective technique in self-development, marketing, and anything that involves human behavior.

It could just as well be applied to conflict-resolution.

How can we apply the concept of “Rakhi ” campaign to the crises happening today: inside us, in our families, within communities, and between countries?

How can we take something that is already working so well, deeply ingrained in our culture, and expand it further to promote peace and unity?

Why not start with one person? Who will you tie your imaginary Rakhi to?

—

This post was previously published on Co-existence.

***

Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.

All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.

A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.