All the elder sisters, raise your hands if you are trying your best to make your younger brothers look 'cool'. Raise your hands if you are helping them style themselves. Raise your hands if you are making your younger brothers practice a skincare routine. Raise your hands if you are helping them in their dating lives. Raise your hand if you were the one who introduced alcohol to your younger brother. Well, I am one of them and I proudly raise mine.
Friendship Between Elder Sisters And Younger Brothers
Have you watched the series of reels called 'Mere brother ki girlfriend' by RJ Karishma? In the reels, Karishma or Chikki not only helps her brother in finding a girlfriend but also in getting ready for his first coffee date. She asks him to apply besan on his face, then she applies foundation on his face and also suggests what to wear and how to keep his beard. Chikki really wishes that her brother's first date goes well.
The dynamics of brother-sister relationship
The reel made me wonder how often elder sisters share such a comforting bond with their younger brothers. How often do younger brothers follow the advice of their elder sisters? How often do elder sisters and younger brothers get together and practice skin care, sit together for a beverage and joke about each other's dating lives?
The dynamics of the relationship between elder sisters and younger brothers are assumed to be either subversive with the younger brother 'protecting' the elder sister or strict with the elder sister controlling the behaviour of the younger brother.
Do you remember the movie Love Hostel? In that movie, the younger brother of Sania Malhotra's character is dominant to the extent that he even beats his elder sister for crossing her 'boundaries'. Then, do you remember the daily soap, Hitler Didi? In that serial, Rati Pandey's character, the elder sister and the sole bread-earner of the family of six, is shown as a strict elder sister of whom her younger brother is most likely afraid.
The shift in the bond between brothers and sisters
However, life is not black and white. It has greys where all the realities lie. Similarly, the bond between elder sister and younger brother doesn't always conform to a binary. Nowadays, the dynamics have changed as the bond has become fluid. It is no longer a difference of age but a difference of experience which becomes helping hands.
Not that the bond is devoid of respect or the normal bickering between siblings. However, the bond has become more friendly than dominant (in any way). It has transgressed the boundary of generational or age difference and is tied by a common interest in exploring the world. Not only does the elder sister help the younger brother become successful, good-looking and cool, but the younger brothers too listen to their elder sisters about their dating or professional lives without being instigated by them or judging their sisters.
This helps both siblings in traversing life. Friends might walk away, dates might ditch, parents might be impatient and obtuse but elder sisters or younger brothers are always there to support each other. Suppose elder sisters, based on their experiences in life, open up new doors for the younger brothers. In that case, the younger brothers help the elder sisters in adapting to the new generation- be it by following their passion or by encouraging them to seek help.
What is your opinion/experience?
How do you like this shift in the relationship between elder sisters and younger brothers? I love it because it has brought me closer to my younger brother. I not only do cool stuff with him but also help him understand what is right for him. So all the siblings out there, unite based on endless friendship, not on difference of age. No matter how huge the age difference might be, the friendship never grows old. No matter how huge the generational difference is, the problems and solutions do not change.
Views expressed are the author's own.
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