A Wife’s Sacrifice and Devotion in the Indian Tradition Source: www.nytimes.com<http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/8703856/3905615/http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/10/17/nyregion/17hindu.html> NEW YORK, USA, October 17, 2010 (By Shivani Vora): Of course I want my husband to have good health and a long life, but it took me seven years to give up food and water in hopes of it.
Every autumn, many women — particularly those from northern India — observe Karwa Chauth, a daylong Hindu fast on behalf of their husbands’ prosperity. It falls on Oct. 25 this year. Traditions vary, but most rise before the sun for a meal, known as sargi, often sent by their mothers-in-law, and spend the day dressed in their finest Indian garb, skipping their usual household duties. Women gather in the afternoon for a prayer circle, where they pass around thalis — trays, with sweets, flowers or candles, and a glass of water five times while singing a song that explains the holiday’s origins. Then, come evening, they look at the moon through a sieve — never directly — and perform a prayer before their husbands, who give them their first sip of water and bite of food from their thalis. I grew up — in India, New Jersey and Cleveland — watching these rituals. When I became a mother two-and-a-half years ago, I had an urge to ingrain in my daughter all things Indian. So last year I went to my parents’ home in Ridgewood, N.J., and did a modified fast — I drank some water and ate a piece of fruit — sitting in that married-women’s circle, with my daughter looking on. See a slideshow of Karwa Chauth in America here<http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/8703856/3905615/http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/10/17/nyregion/17hindu-1.html> BTW ---- I am very happy with my not keeping the above tradition because in my family my mother and my grandmother never kept the Karva-Chauth.... There is no love lost..... -- With best wishes S Chander
