The ululation, the conchshell blowing, the gifts, and above all the sandalwood paste on the forehead… It was all there. The only person missing was the brother. But he was not missed at all for what was being celebrated on a winter afternoon at The Sonnet was Bon Phota.

The organiser and the common sister to all the guests was Indrani Ganguly. “We sisters feel somewhat excluded on Bhaiphota which we observe for the well-being of the brother. So I thought of having an event exclusively for sisters,” said the director of DB Block-based Sristi Dance Academy, who grew up with only a sister as sibling.

Most guests took the event in a spirit of enjoyment. “We have given phota to friends for fun. Recently two friends turned 40. We went to bless them,” laughed Chandreyee Ghosh, who recently featured in the film Cheeni.

Some took the occasion seriously and lauded the women-only initiative. “Men have always cornered women. But in some Northeast tribes, women are the head of the family,” said Aparna Niyogi, a lawyer who has earlier served as a municipal councillor.

The two ‘sisters’ who received the most requests for selfies were Lily Chakraborty and Sakuntala Barua. They too happily obliged.