For actor Neha Dhupia, the relevance of the festival of Raksha Bandhan has increased ever since she became a mother, and has planned a “sweet little celebration” for this year’s festivities, considering it is the first Rakhi of her kids — daughter Mehr and son Guriq. This year, Dhupia has planned two celebrations, an intimate one with her kids at her home, and a bit delayed one with her brother, Hardeep, with the extended family over the weekend.

“This year, since the festival is in the middle of the week, my brother has to work. We will be celebrating it later over the weekend when kids and cousins are a bit more free. So, the big Rakhi celebration will be over the weekend, not on the day. Even though it will be a delayed merriment, there’s still going to be love and laugh,” says Dhupia.

Coming to the special plans with her kids, the 41-year-old reveals, “It’s Guriq’s first Rakhi… And it will be done both ways. Mehr (her daughter) will tie Rakhi to Guriq and Guriq will also tie Rakhi to Mehr”. “They both are in their own little school programs. Mehr has done some DIY Rakhi stuff and brought it back home, and she’s super excited about it. And then we have staff at home, which is like a family to us, and we will tie Rakhi to them as well. It will be a sweet little celebration, and actually it goes beyond brother and sister. It shows that everyone has the ability to protect the other person. That’s what it means in our family more than anything else”.