Vizag gears up for eco-friendly Raksha Bandhan

Visakhapatnam: With Raksha Bandhan around the corner, the Vizagites are gearing up for the festivity in full swing. Interestingly, this year the city folks are selectively holding on to eco-friendly and customised rakhis. These creative trinkets are in great demand both in online or offline platforms.

Eco-friendly Rakhis

Seed rakhis designed with indigenous seeds which include marigold, basil, tomato, palak, methi and cucumber are in great demand as many believe in the concept of plastic–free celebrations. For Saumya Sharma, an MSc student, who decides to adopt eco-friendly rakhi says, "I have heard about seed rakhi from one of my friends and I was impressed by the concept, so this year I am planning to celebrate Rakhsha Bandhan tying seed rakhi."

Green Climate Team and Paryavarana Margadasi Vaisakhi have conducted several seed rakhi workshops to educate school children.

Customised Rakhi

The rakhi shops near Jagadamba junction are abuzz with activity. Colourful rakhis with glittery bright sequins grabbed a huge crowd amid the shores of this busy junction. Rashi Jain, from a fancy store talks about what's trending this year. She says, "This year we have lined up custom-made rakhis. Moreover, personalised photo with names are also disappearing off the shelves. I have received a good number of orders for the customised ones." When asked what more is added this year, she responds, "We have handmade quilling rakhi, kundan, antique rakhi, pearls rakhi, stone-studded one-gram gold rakhi, and silver plated rakhi are added newly this year."

Chocolate Rakhi

All the chocolate lovers from the city can settle for this scrumptious rakhi. Certainly, this edible variety is preferred by kids. Kiranmai Srinija from an Instagram shop named Honeyarts Customised Gift, says, "Since last two years I have been preparing chocolate rakhis. I prepare the chocolate and I make sure that it doesn't melt and lastly I decorate it with colourful paper foils."

For Simran Jain, handmade rakhi plays an important role in expressing love. She says, "Rakhsha Bandhan is a proper North Indian festival and it's been three years I have celebrated this festival in Vizag. She further says, "I remember last year I prepared a 'Chota Bheem' rakhi as my younger brother loves this cartoon character. And this year I plan to surprise him with Kit Kat chocolate one." She beams.

Gift hampers

A box full of baked goodies and chocolate bars may seem to be a redundant idea. But if your sibling loves to binge on chocolates and if you have grown up fighting over chocolates then go for it. Millet-based gift hampers and baked goodies are flashed up on WhatsApp and Instagram status. These goodies are beautifully decorated with assorted sequins and are fat free and are mostly presented by family friends and relatives. Gayatri from Chocolate Craft Club says, "We have introduced millet-based snacks for rakhi. The customer gets to pick up from 100+ variety of chocolates, millet snacks, millet cookies, granola, caramelised seeds and matka mousses. Customised messages with images can also have done here for the siblings."