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Karva Chauth turns into a family entertainer
By Rakhee Roy Talukdar, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) The times are a-changing. Karva Chauth, a Hindu festival observed mostly in northern India and for long an all-women affair meant for the well-being of husbands, is now being celebrated by entire families. 

With Bollywood films for inspiration, Karva Chauth is now all about glamour, glitz, pomp and show. A time when whole families come together, deck up, sing and dance, exchange gifts and generally have loads of fun. 

This year Karva Chauth falls on Thursday. But despite the merrymaking, married women don't forget to observe the main ritual: the daylong fast kept for the welfare of their husbands. 

The rituals observed all across the north include sitting around goddess Gaura Mata and a small pitcher (spherical clay pots called Karva) and praying for the long life of their husbands. 

And while the Gaura Mata story is narrated, ladies circulate their Baya thalis which contain mathris, almonds and gifts. These women break their fast only after sighting the moon and their husband's face through a sieve. 

Karva Chauth is celebrated on the fourth night after the full moon in Kartik month (of Hindu calendar) following the autumnal equinox. Karva means a clay pot and chauth corresponds to the fourth. 

Legend has it that a queen once prayed to Gaura Mata to win back her husband who was bewitched by another woman. According to another legend, married women confront Yama, the Hindu lord of death, for their husband's longevity. It reveals the power of women to make even death bow down to their strength.

Although traditional rituals are still followed, they have been overshadowed by the designer concept. Now one has designer saris, cholis, lehengas, mehendi and designer gifts taking over the festival.

Accompanied with elaborate sangeet ceremonies and full Bollywood paraphernalia, event managers have come into the picture. Competition is in and there's a rush to put up a bigger show than the other, especially among those who celebrate their first Karva Chauth. 

It's not just the women or the new brides who deck up, entire families now don new clothes. 

"My teenage sister has bought a new, colourful lehenga for this occasion as it is going to be a big event for our family this year," says Piu, who will celebrate her first Karva Chauth. 

Earlier, a few days before Karva Chauth, married women would buy new pots and put in bangles, ribbons, homemade candy and sweets, and small pieces of cloth as gifts. 

Now with increasing consumer power, the gift exchange has assumed mega proportions. With all the trappings of a mini wedding, the fashion, cosmetics, food, jewellery, dry fruits and even the greeting card market gear up to woo the women. 

Not to forget the modern-day husbands who invariably go looking for an expensive gift for their wives. 

As the festival falls just nine days before Diwali, India's biggest festival of lights, women reap all the benefits of the mega sale season. 

Shops harp on the 'Caring, Sharing' concept which is so typical of the Karva Chauth festival. This year the government-owned Khadi Gramodyog has jumped on to the bandwagon and is out to lure customers with heavy discounts. 

Even though the designer market is up for grabs, there are some who prefer keeping it simple. "I pray and fast all for him. Just being together for the day means a lot to me," says Sunita Chauhan, 27, who works for a BPO firm. 

There are others who find this tradition of fasting for their husbands as outrageous. "Why won't husbands ever fast for us? I love my husband, but I don't have to fast and pray to show it," says Ajanta, 34, a bank executive. 

But most women enjoy the rituals and the accompanying festival fervour. "I am not a very religious person, yet I will feel uneasy if I don't fast. I fear something might happen to him," says Ritu Sachdev, a journalist. 

With Karva Chauth becoming hugely popular, even young women whose marriages are in the offing observe the fast for their would-be husbands. With mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, daughters-in-law, aunts and husbands getting together, Karva Chauth is slowly but steadily turning into a family entertainer.