This Raksha Bandhan, tie the rakhi and eat it too! (Rakhee is on Saturday)

Having your cake and eating it too is passe! This Raksha Bhandhan brace up for a new adage - tie the rakhi and eat it too! For in Lucknow, over a dozen local bakeries and confectioners have come up with an innovative idea of baked and edible rakhis.

This has seemingly clicked with the gen-next which is buying the eatable rakhis in large numbers. Coming in various shapes, hues and flavours these rakhi's are made of condensed milk, cream, sugar and edible colours. The lace for tying is made of chocolate frozen on silk thread, making it the only ingredient which cannot be eaten.

They come in many flavours - from dark chocolate to pineapple and strawberry and They are priced between Rs.20 and Rs.80 a piece.

Rahul Maheshwari, a bakery owner at Munshi Puliya, said the "idea is selling like hot cakes" and elaborated how innovation at every raksha bandhan was becoming a necessity.

"The market is flooded with so many varieties and there is also the 'Chinese invasion', so we come up with something new everytime" Maheshwari told IANS.

The edible rakhis are becoming very popular with young boys and girls who prefer to have fun this festival along with some "pet pooja" too, said a shopkeeper in Chowk with a smile, adding that while edible rakhi's have been experimented with by families at some places, their commercial production was a first.

The other rakhi's that are making an impact on the market are the 'Namo' (named after prime minister Narendra Modi and the 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' rakhi's. The latter are named after the blockbuster Salman Khan starrer where the actor is shown as the saviour of a young from Pakistan.

"We also want our brothers to be real heros and hence we are picking up the Bajrangi Bhaijaan rakhis" chuckled Priya Jain, a 16-year-old from Mahanagar.

Other than this, the plain string handmade rakhi's are also doing the rounds. Other than for the vintage memories that they bring along, they are also a rage because of the affordable prices, said a shopkeeper in Hussainganj, who added that now, even stone encrusted and embroidered rakhi's were emerging as preferred ones.