Karwa Chauth festival: Moon plays hide and seek as women wait to break fast

Hindu women observed a day-long fast on Tuesday for their husbands’ long lives.

KARACHI:

Chanda stood at the edge of the Laxmi Narayan Mandir, which overlooked the dark waters of the Native Jetty. Her eyes searched the sky for a glimpse of the moon as she said out a prayer for her husband’s safe and long life. “May my prayers and my fast always protect him,” she smiled as Maazdak, her other half, smiled back.

Tuesday evening saw several Hindu couples celebrating the romantic festival of Karwa Chauth, in which wives  fast for their husbands, hoping that their men would be protected from a troublesome life.

Chanda has been married for five years, and since then she has been fasting, praying for her husband’s long life. Dressed in a shimmering dark red sari, with bright gold earrings dangling from her ears, she said that she had nothing to eat or drink except the daal roti she had at 4am.



“Women start their fast at sunrise and break it when the moon rises,” she explained. “I hope that the moon comes out faster,” she couldn’t help but add as the clear skies loomed above. The moon always delays its arrival on this special night, her husband said, consolingly.

As soon as it peeks through the clouds, these women glance at it through a sieve and then look through it at their husbands. The man will then offer their woman some water and something sweet to break the fast. Coconuts, rice, flowers are offered to the gods to thank them as diyas are lit up. The prayers also include a ritual in which the women, who fast, tie a piece of thread around a peepul tree outside the temple, move around it seven times and sprinkle water.

Among the many celebrating couples were the newly-wed Sajna and Ramesh. “This is my wedding sari that I am wearing today,” she said excitedly. “Today is the day to show that I will always be faithful to my husband and will always care for him.”

Sitting next to them were Aroona, who has been fasting for the last seven years, and her mother-in-law Pushpa, who had been keeping the tradition alive for 33 years. “It’s very tough to stay hungry and take care of the kids and the house but I love my husband,” the young woman admitted. “And so do I,” interrupted Pushpa, who still remembers the first time she came to this temple after her wedding. “I was very nervous but everything turned out well.”



The festival is celebrated mostly by women, and that too, by only the ones who are married. There are, however, some like Natasha and her fiancé Mahindar, who break the norms and fast for each other. Mahindar also stayed away from food and water for the entire day and presented a red and pink dress to her. “I haven’t eaten anything today for her happiness,” he admitted shyly. “No man in my family has ever kept a fast before.”

Pardeep does not, however, believe in the tradition and doesn’t like the concept of wives having to starve the whole day to prove their love to their husbands. “I don’t like that my wife stays hungry. I just don’t like it,” said the man dressed in a red shirt. His wife, Parwa, who was holding the thaal ready with barfi and water, playfully hit him back. “But I like it and I will keep a fast for you as long as I live.”

The moon was, however, in no hurry to come out and the women waited well into the night before they could break their fast.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2013.