True emotions related to Rakshabandhan day were witnessed as a Muslim and a Hindu family came together for a noble cause. Not only did they exchange rakhis, they also exchanged kidneys. Kashmira Bhatt, 46-years-old donated her kidney to taxi driver Rafiq Khokhar, while Khokhar's wife Ruksana donated her kidney to Kashmira's husband Gautam - with both families being in Ahmadabad. "I can't even imagine that a person who I did not know till a week back is giving me a new life. She could have donated her kidney to her husband, but has agreed to the swap. Even my real sister would not have helped me in such a way," says Bhatt, who will celebrate Rakshabandhan with the Khokhars, reported The Times of India. Director of Ahmadabad Kidney Hospital H L Trivedi said, "This is a unique case. It just shows that to help others is the biggest religion."

In Gujarat, whose chief minister is Narendra Modi, rakhi is celebrated as Pavitropana. On this day, prayers are offered to Lord Shiva, and a ceremony is held to ask for forgiveness for past sins. In a common ritual, a cotton thread is soaked in a mixture of milk, cow ghee, urine, curd, and cow excreta - a mixture that's called panchagaivya - and it is wrapped around the Shivalinga in order to seek heavenly grace.

Grace, is of course, the basic foundation of Rakhi as was witnessed when Narendra Modi accepted to be a brother to hundreds of small girls and women, who lined up in a function in the state capital to tie a rakhi on the right wrist of Narendra Modi, who accepted the bond and commitment to act as a brother to all those who tied a rakhi on Rakshabandhan day.  

In every state capital, including at the Centre, the sibling festival was celebrated with joy - even as the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, sat patiently, just like Narendra Modi, so that hundreds of school children and disabled children could tie rakhis on Mukherjee.