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India Today
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Lifafas, laddoos and love: A nostalgic walk through rakhi celebrations
Raksha Bandhan is more than a festival; it's a feeling, a memory, and a moment we carry in our hearts forever. For many of us, it brings back the joy of growing up with our siblings, creating handmade rakhis in school, decorating the house with paper streamers, and watching our mothers lovingly prepare sweets at home. In the '90s, Rakhi was all about family rituals, homemade mithai, and gifting lifafas with crisp Rs 10 or Rs 50 to 2025, the spirit is still alive, but the celebrations have changed. Siblings often live in different cities or countries, so rakhis are often sent through couriers or digital cards. Homemade sweets are replaced with Zomato or Swiggy orders, and sagan arrives via Google Pay. Yet, no matter how the methods change, the emotions remain article takes you on a nostalgic journey down memory lane, from the warmth of the past to the convenience of today, as we explore Raksha Bandhan. Rakhi memory lane: A nostalgic look at sibling love through the years (Image created by Vani Gupta) RAKHI IN THE '90S: A CELEBRATION FULL OF COLOUR AND CRAFTBack in the day, Rakhi was all about preparations that started days in advance. Sisters would create rakhis at school using wool, glitter, beads, and shiny stickers. Homes were decorated with handmade paper flowers, colourful dupattas, and marigold garlands. Mothers would start making besan laddoos or coconut barfis a day would get ready in crisp kurta-pyjamas, secretly hoping for an easy rakhi ritual and a delicious lunch afterwards. The gifting was simple lifafa with handwritten notes, comic books, or even a chocolate bar with a hug. But it meant the world. Rakhi memory lane: A nostalgic look at sibling love through the years (Image created by Vani Gupta) The thali had everything: rakhi, roli, chawal, diya, and sweets. Sisters would tie the rakhi while chanting small mantras learned from parents or siblings would fight over camera angles as photos were clicked with film roll cameras. Everyone posed awkwardly but lovingly. And despite all the teasing, drama, and fake anger, the day ended with a promise, "I'll always be there for you." Today, Rakhi is celebrated across borders. Sisters, courier rakhis weeks in advance or simply send an e-rakhi with a sweet message. Video calls replace face-to-face rituals, but the emotional connection stays have become more casual: meeting cousins at a caf, movie night with siblings, or a group Rakhi lunch outing. Sweets are ordered online, and sagan is sent via UPI. But even without the traditional thali, the feeling of being loved and remembered still touches the it's 1995 or 2025, what matters most is the love behind the gesture. While lifafas carried cash and secret notes earlier, now there's a notification from a money app saying, '500 from Bhaiya'. Happy Rakhi!'Earlier, we had photo albums full of printed pictures; now we post boomerangs and stories on Instagram. But scroll through those digital memories, and the smiles are still the same. Rakhi memory lane: A nostalgic look at sibling love through the years (Image created by Vani Gupta) CELEBRATIONS MAY EVOLVE, BUT THE BOND IS FOREVERThere's something magical about how Rakhi has evolved. While many people reminisce about the simplicity of the '90s, today's conveniences have their charm. They allow siblings to stay connected despite the distance, and that is worth celebrating. Both the traditional and modern eras possess their unique beauty. The past has gifted us memories, the present helps us maintain connections, and the future holds the promise of more stories to cherish. Raksha Bandhan isn't defined by how you celebrate, but rather by why you celebrate. Whether you tie a rakhi at home with your brother or send one across the globe, what truly matters is the love behind the ritual. Rakhi memory lane: A nostalgic look at sibling love through the years (Image created by Vani Gupta) So this Rakhi, take a moment to reflect on those childhood memories: the handmade rakhis, mom's sweets, and the lifafas. Smile at how far you and your sibling have come. Then, whether you send a digital rakhi, take a screenshot, or plan an outing at your favourite cafe, remember that the bond you share is timeless, just like the festival itself.- Ends
India Today
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Tom Cruise can now film in space: The only oxygen he needs is adrenaline
Disclaimer: This is not a was the winter of 2011, and I had recently found my freedom after completing school when 'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol' was released. With a meagre budget from some saved-up pocket money, I decided to give it a try at a single-screen theatre in Meerut, a small town in Uttar Pradesh.I was hooked from the first The music, the story, the stunts — and above all, the charm of Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise during an elaborate stunt in Mission Impossible Final Reckoning. (Photo: Screengrab) Over 14 years since that winter evening, both Tom Cruise and I have grown older, a lot wiser (me, a lot less though), and a little more serious about our crafts — he, a moviemaker; I, a lowly science journalist who continues to love having watched what Tom Cruise pulled off in 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning', I'm confident the 62-year-old specimen of flesh and bone has what it takes to make a film in you read that right — outside the what else is left? He's already conquered the three elements: land, sea, and air, thanks to his 'Top Guns' and 'Mission Impossibles'.Did you know there was even a plan for him to fly to the International Space Station — but, unfortunately, the Russians beat him to it. Credit: India Today/AI generative by Vani Gupta In late 2022, the buzz went viral when Donna Langley, chairperson of Universal Pictures, teased in an interview that they were contemplating a new action film with director Doug movie, planned on a massive budget, would include scenes shot aboard the International Space Station. Langley mentioned the plan was to have Tom do a spacewalk it never a Russian crew, actor Yulia Peresild, and director Klim Shipenko, flew to the Space Station and shot a sequence for a film titled The Challenge. They lived aboard the Station for 12 days before returning to Earth with the Yulia can do it, Tom Cruise could do it a notch better — maybe even with a spacewalk, Sunita Williams leaping off cliffs on a motorcycle, to running across buildings, to jumping off skyscrapers, to hanging off a plane facing monstrous air speeds, to going underwater and training to hold his breath for six straight minutes (the average human can do 30 to 90 seconds) — these are the stuff of legend. They're only possible with a life of discipline, a regimented routine, and a never-say-never margin for error. Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) May 21, 2025Tom Cruise has all that — and, above all, in his own words, the hunger to learn and shoot a film on the space station would call for a humongous collaboration — NASA, the production company, space station management, astronauts aboard the flying laboratory, SpaceX for launch and return missions, and most importantly, Tom Cruise himself, who would need months, if not years, of rigorous given Tom's history and love for films, he could make it there is one last mission that Tom Cruise should choose to accept, it's to conquer the final frontier — honestly? After watching 'Mission: Impossible', I'm convinced. If anyone can pull off cinema in zero gravity with a smile and a sprint, it's Cruise. Just don't forget the seatbelt. Or, you know Reel
