Practising Rakshabandhan: Brothers in Ranchi, Jharkhand

Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff
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Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff: Asian Development Research Institute, Patna E-mail: kathinka@inranchi.com

Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 2003, vol. 10, issue 3, 431-455

Abstract: This article describes some of the aspects that growing up entails for young men in Ranchi, Jharkhand, who feel that they are more privileged than girls in many respects. Nevertheless, they experience extreme stress, confusion, anger or sadness as they cannot always cope with the expectation of having to restrict themselves to masculine scripts. At such moments, it is the brother's role that is preferred. The author argues that this explains the popularity of rakshabandhan among young men of various religious, class and caste backgrounds. The ethos of rakshabandhan not only em phasises the commitment of brothers to protect their sisters (real and fictive), but also requires sisters to serve and love them. Rakshabandhan also legitimates interaction between the sexes, and at times love between this kind of brothers and sisters, which is otherwise not sanctioned in a city like Ranchi.

Date: 2003
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:indgen:v:10:y:2003:i:3:p:431-455

DOI: 10.1177/097152150301000303

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