All for Love!

I could’nt think of a better name for this blog… so pardon me !
It is that day of the year again when girls all over India “fast” by abstaining from food and drinks [including water] so that their life partner have a long life. No, I dont think that is foolish and yes, I agree it is very illogical. But I have learnt this from my sis and mom, when it comes to love nothing is. I personally cannot stay away from food for more than 6 hours after being told that I am not supposed to eat it, otherwise I have to remind myself to eat! [Psychological issue]

Here is my reverence and kudos to all those people who can and do… for the sake of love!

Let me first start my telling you about this custom called “Karva Chauth”, like all North Indian festivals, it is pretty hyped up and grand. Girls, including the teens and married, get up early in the morning, before sun rise, and starts the day by asking for blessings for the tough day ahead and continues with the chores after a tiny meal. It is not a national holiday ( which I wonder would had been if men had to undergo the same thing in India…), which means the teachers teach, the developers crunch code and my dear sister goes to clinic comforting all her patients. Well that’s just part one, before that she cooks lunch/ breakfast dinner and lulls her kid to sleep and makes sure everything is just perfect ( house-cleaning, laundry, groceries). If it sounded like a sacrifice, you got me wrong – She does it because she won’t want it any other way! The evening is the actual show time…Oh did I tell you about the week long preparation that was on for this day? Let me quickly give you an overview – weekend was spa and parlour day, followed by shopping and planning for the event – calling friends, getting the “Mehandi” event planned and reserving the venue for the night – and of course the cribbing for the amount of work that has to be done! After an hour long session of dressing up [ it is an UNDERSTATEMENT] the hostess is ready to greet the guests and the big fella- the moon. The men of the family are going nuts over the whole thing and since they have no control over it anyway they become a part of it [ all for love!]. [I secretly share my my Jeeju's bewilderment- I mean imagine - a female starving herself for you... and doing all the million things for you and you have no clue how you gained anything after you loosing a couple of grands on the celebration and she loosing a couple of pounds - worst is you cant even complain - if you do : you are being so mean and un-compassionate ].
Lets come back to the grand evening, to get the picture straight, the girl is all dressed up, the guy have been blackmailed emotionally [ with the innocent looks and all for you unsaid talks - I so love being a woman!!] and so even he is all dressed up, the guest have arrived which is actually a huge crowd of overly dressed women, ( and most probably the winner for this years event- who is the prettiest, have the best jewelery and rest of the things, and most imp -the best couple have been decided – silently at the first glance itself {guys have no clue about it – Don’t bother you won’t understand}) and all are waiting for the Moon. If its sounding shallow, I need to correct myself, its not . There are reasons for it to be this way, the last few hours are the toughest and its good to keep yourself busy with some thing you like. It is the day when the women, in the very conservative society of India, declare what they feel for their man and the extent they can go to prove it. When the moon finally decides to rise, the girls make a wish for a long and happy married life. And then the party begins. I think the wishes really work… compare the divorce rates in India and outside . And then people so often get lost in the life that they forget about loving and living.

My nan [granny] had once tried to get me into this thing (unmarried females do it so that they get that hunk they are dreaming about], she even decided to give me company – I dint last the 6 hrs – she actually did ( in retrospection I am glad I dint – I mean come on!! what if I would have really got that dumb head I then had a crush on!!) May be one day I will be able to extend that 6 hours period to a day…may be.. one day when I will tumble over to the illogical and insane side called love!

Cheers to you Sis! you did it again!!
[ will add the pics after my sis gets freed up from the after party gossips ]