Karwa Chauth – the fast

This is the most important fast observed by married women in North India. Women fast praying for the good health and long life of their husbands. The women fast without food and water right from dawn till the night when they break the fast after sighting the moon and doing pooja. For someone who is a stickler for eating food at the right times, this is even more of a torture. I religiously do this fast every year even though Gurdev asks me not to do it. Why do I do it? I really don’t know. I guess it is a way of expressing my love for my husband, maybe because I saw my mother do it so beautifully every year tirelessly. I guess I want to test myself every year, whether I can abstain for one entire day with some spiritual thinking. That would be more like it, I believe. Frankly, I hardly have any faith in the lore behind it. I believe that it is just a ritual like so many other Hindu rituals which is riddled with praying to endless deities and fasting. And I do not fast on any other occasion.

Why are all these tough rituals directed towards women only is anyone’s guess :). The priests and framers of the rules of Hinduism were all men. Some people say that these are regressive rituals which make the poor women do things against their wishes. They are if they are forced upon you against your wishes and I feel sorry for those poor women who have to endure it against their will. I, on the other hand, do it solely as per my wish and enjoy all the colours – the mehndi, the dressing up, the sari, the bangles etc. which go along with it.

I’d say do it only if you want to do it. The same applies to any other pooja or ritual. The purpose is defeated if the intent or piety associated with the ritual is not there. Happy Karwa Chauth all. Hope the moon peeps out a little sooner this year :).