It’s amazing how many traditions and festivals India has! They already have so many that they have to institute a floating holiday system at work so only ten are taken. But it seems like there are plenty in between, many not important enough to warrant a day off but still widely celebrated.
Today, Oct 22, is Karva Chauth. Today, women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the “long life and health” of their husbands. And this is a true fast. No eating, and usually no drinking, the entire day. They also tend to dress in wedding-like finery, often colored red (“the married women’s color”, says one of my co-workers) and have henna done. The Wiki article goes into very interesting detail. Especially the various critiques and responses to the fact that it is a very female-oriented holiday and whether that makes it oppressive or empowering.
So, today at work, there were lots of women dressed up beautifully with gorgeous designs on their hands and arms. Even my maid had henna. And many men left early. Why, you ask? I asked, too.
“The woman may break her fast when she has seen the moon and her husband’s face.”
Ah.
In fact, at least one newly-married man took the whole day off.
Karva Chauth Henna I Saw Today
I have to say, I am impressed. Women in North India must have very strong will power. The woman who sits next to me fasts once a week and I think the woman across from me does too. (One for finding a decent husband, the other in honor of her decent husband.) I’ve never fasted. I might try one day because I think it would honestly be good for me to know what it feels like to go a long time without food. Also, I heard it might even be healthy to give your digestive system a break? Not sure, because it also seems like it would mess with your metabolism. That’s the problem with being raised in America. So Much Nutrition And Weight Loss Information / Misinformation stuffed in my head. I do know one thing, though. Many, many cultures fast. So it can’t be all that bad for you.
I’m trying to think of some equivalent in the U.S. but we have few widespread traditions that just kind of happen without any federal holiday attached to them. Offhand, I can think of Valentine’s Day and Halloween.
Both of which involve consuming chocolate.
Super Bowl Sunday? Burgers, ribs, chips ‘n’ guac. Black Friday? Well, consuming everything. But you have to get lunch sometime during all that shopping, right? In fact, do we in the U.S. have any celebration that doesn’t involve consuming more than usual rather than less? Perhaps Mother’s and Father’s Day…
Granted, apparently a big part of Karva Chauth is the shopping. So, there’s that.
An informal survey of my male co-workers’ answer to the question, “Is your wife fasting?”
- “Yes, but I don’t require her to. I tell her she can eat whatever she wants. But she fasts anyway.”
- “She has to.” After I laughed, he smiled and said, “No, not in a chauvinistic way. I mean She has to, not She has to.”
- “Yes, but we count me calling her as seeing my face. So she can break her fast when she hears my voice.”
I think I was most surprised at how widely celebrated it was. Everyone I have seen in the last two days who is married was undertaking (or their spouse was undertaking) the fast.
I’m going to go look for the moon now.
In completely unrelated news…
I got takeout from Vaango (the South Indian fast food joint…. not to be confused to Van Gogh) the other day partially because I got a text message that I would get a free masala dosa if I ordered 200 rupees worth, though mostly because I was in the area and thinking of going over there anyway. I didn’t order this, though:
For an Explosive Lunch
I’m finally, finally, done my Leh trip blog. Whew. Just in time for Thursday when I am off to Dubai! My first trip to the Middle East.