Karwa Chauth, the ‘ME’ festival

Happy Karwa Chauth

I can’t keep calm, its Karwa Chauth! Yeah, you got me right, we are just a few days away from the D day and the excitement has started to build up. Family traditions, get-togethers, sumptuous meals, gifts, rituals, traditions, beliefs and so on. Amongst all the festivals, my personal favourite is Karwa Chauth. A beautiful way to celebrate a woman! More than celebrating it for the long life of our beloved husband, we celebrate a woman. A woman who is born with an eternal power to protect herself and also protect others. The excitement of this festival is unmatchable with others.

Classic Rituals

It’s a beautiful two-day festival which starts from mehndi. The passion of applying mehndi and then holding upon whole day and night to keep our hands dry to see the best colour out of it is just so thrilling! The idea of getting up at 4 am in the morning and eating ‘Sargi’ (a meal had before sunrise that day) ‘Taaron ki chaun mein’ adds a different enthusiasm to the whole festival.  Then comes the legendary Pooja with family and friends. The attention is less on Pooja and more towards dressing up like ‘Padmavat’ with all’ Solan Singaar’ and keeping our best foot forward. This is one such day when you wish to dress up with every possible jewellery you have with you, right from the toe ring to anklets to bangles to necklace and not to forget ‘Sindoor’. I think the only day when I actually put Sindoor and with all my emotions.

And then comes the most awaited ‘ Chand’. The ritual of not drinking water and not eating food until we see the treasured moon (Chand) has so much fun attached to it. Truly speaking, 364 days in a year I don’t even look up to the sky to check on dear Chand. But on this day, we look up to the sky at least 364 times in one hour. Holds good to say that ‘ everyone has their day and some days last longer than others’.

Finally, the day ends with Chand Pooja and indulging ourselves in the lavish meal of ‘Dal makhani’ and ‘Kadhai Paneer’. And last but not least, the first sip of water and food fed by a loving husband. Wow, it does feel like a pampered one!

Celebrate Women

There are different opinions on fasting the whole day and as to why only females should do that and not husbands but, for me, it’s a day to pamper myself, get ready with most aesthetic jewellery, most gorgeous dress, wear all the possible Shringar as part of our Indian traditions, eat a sumptuous meal and enjoy the endless love and care from my beloved husband.

If we take it in positive spirits, for me it’s more of a ‘Me Festival’ rather than ‘ His Festival’. Amidst all the buzz I totally let slip from my memory that we actually fast to pray for a long and healthy life of our loved husbands.

Do not let pandemic play a dampener on the festivities around and pamper yourself the similar way as every year.  Let your husband show creativity on your hands or let yourself explore the hidden talents. Come what may, its a day to celebrate and feel special since this day is to indulge ourselves.  Wishing all the beautiful ladies ‘Happy Me Festival‘, I mean ‘Happy Karwa Chauth’!