Times of India
NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 21, 2005: Tradition met commerce today in an outpouring of love across the city as fasting women — from the housewife to the executive — prayed for their husbands’ long life. It was Karva Chauth. And where only romance had blossomed with marriage still a distance away, it turned into an occasion for a display of affection and reaffirmation of love. Gifts and vows were exchanged — it could be mistaken for the desi version of Valentine’s Day. The faith that leads to fasting all day — those who could wake up before four in the morning could tuck in some food (known as sargi) — needs to be strengthened with some distractions. So, heavy saris, expensive jewelry and fashion accessories, complemented by hands decorated with mehndi, completed the look for the special day as the women headed for places ranging from the neighbourhood shopping mall to Dilli Haat. Fourteen-year-old Susheela had taken two days off from school to help her mother apply mehndi at their crowded stall outside Hanuman Mandir. “The newly-married are more particular about the designs. Most like to get their husband’s name hidden in the intricate designs,” said Rani, Susheela’s mother. Twenty-year-old Leena Sharma, a cosmetology student who was getting a henna pattern created on her palms, said: “This is the third year in a row that I have been fasting for my boyfriend, Rohit. He will be around when I break my fast, somewhere in our lane.” Rohit, who was waiting patiently in a corner, said he had a surprise in store for Leena, either a chain or a ring. Also in their twenties, Anna and Ravi, on the other hand were hoping to have a quiet puja at Anna’s flat where her two roommates and their boyfriends too would be present. Seventy nine-year-old Uma Duggal, a resident of Defence Colony, and her husband, 83-year-old Brigadier D. H. Duggal, were out to prove that their love was eternal. On his wife’s 59th Karva Chauth, Brig Duggal said: “I would love to fast with my wife though she doesn’t allow me.”