Bond of Protection - Raksha Bandhan

On August 5th, Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated

by Indians everywhere.

This festival commemorates the tie between

brothers and sisters.

Our Hindu friends give it a religious intonation,

but people of all beliefs celebrate it in their own way.

Sisters tie a rakhi or colorful thread

on their brother 's wrist, which is a tie

of protection and love.

I took some pictures of rakhi stalls near my house
These are the cheaper ones

Very colorful and intricately designed

You can make your choice

These days Chinese rakhis are in vogue

Depending on your pocket

you can buy the more expensive rakhis

These can cost anywhere

between a few hundred

to thousands of Rupees

The sisters give sweets to brothers

and they in turn give them gifts of money,

candy, fashion accessories, jewelry,

clothes and toys.

These are the bracelet types

Very finely crafted

Rakhis for kids

Encrusted with gems

Gold plated rakhi

You can order them online with a box of sweets

A display of Rakhi gifts

You can tie a rakhi on your blood brother 's wristor anyone you call a brother,

he can be an acquaintance, colleague,

school-mate , your husband 's friend.

You can even tie a rakhi on a guy

to show you are not

romantically interested in him.

I am posting videos which I think you will like

Here is another video from a TV show.
This takes place in a royal family.

Sunday Blessings; This is the Day

Yesterday (August 1st) was my birthday.

The Lord gave me a peaceful and quiet day

with my mother.

I got several phone calls from my sisters

and family.

In the evening my Pastor, his wife and daughter came

to pray and had dessert with us.

I want to thank all

my blog friends for their greetings.

My new blog friend eha
gave me this sweet gift.
Thank you dear sister.EHA 's BLOG full
of gentle , thought provoking posts
like whispers touching the soul.

Please visit my new Indonesian friend


On Friday I went to a Home Bible Study


They live in a place called Kaali Pal-tan
which literally means The Black Platoon.
During the British Raaj this was a part
of the army barracks.
The Brits called Indians "black"
and therefore the nomenclature.
In the house above you can see swamp coolers in the windows.

The descendants of the soldiers live in this settlement
on the banks of the River Ganga.
The river is just down the road.
A cow shed on the way.
As a woman I feel very self conscious taking photos
in public
but I manage some here and there


We had a time of singing
and Pastor lead a Bible study on
Matthew 17


(L-R) Gudiya (the house owner 's wife, Pastor 's wife and Pastor

(L-R) Sunil and Rajendra (house owner)

((L-R) Chandi -Rajendra 's daughter,
Milka -Pastor 's daughter and
Mataji -Rajendra 's mother
The little girls sat through the
meeting very quietly.

Mataji (term of respect for mother)

is in her 80s.

I took a short video of the meeting.

I can truly say with the Psalmist David

*My cup overflows with blessings" Psalm 23;5 (NLT)

Let me quote a passage from Max Lucado 's book Travelling Light.

"Is an overflowing cup full?.

Absolutely. The wine reaches the rim and tumbles over

the edge.The goblet is not large enough to contain the quantity.

According to David our hearts are not large enough to contain the blessings that God wants to give.He pours and pours until they

literally flow over the edge and down on the table.

You will like the paragraph penned a century ago

by F B Meyer

Whatever the blessing is in our cup,

it is sure to run over.

With Him the calf is always the fatted calf,

the robe is always the best robe,

the joy is unspeakable,

the peace passeth understanding...

There is no grudging in God 's benevolence

He does not measure out goodness as an

apothecary counts his drops and

measures his drams slowly

and exactly drop by drop.

God 's way is always characterized by

multitudinous and overflowing bounty."