Friday, November 2, 2012

Karva Chauth


 

Karva Chauth (Hindi: करवा चौथ, Punjabi: ਕਰਵਾ ਚੌਥ, Urdu: کروا چوتھ) is an annual one-day festival celebrated by Hindu and some Sikh women in North India and parts of Pakistan in which married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands.--wikipedia

Every fall I am concerned about where to find the moon as it first rises in the evening . On Karva Chauth, my wife Shalini, who has been fasting all day on my behalf, and I drive around the pioneer valley hoping to find the moon as soon as possible. When we finally spot it, her fast is broken after she observes the moon first by looking through a sieve (our salad strainer), then pours water around the moon three times, and then prays for my long life. She is rewarded with sweets and a nice take out Indian meal.

Yes, this is an unusual ritual to be practicing in New England. In some respects the custom seems among the most foreign of the cross cultural experiences I have brought into my life. At face value, viewed from my western perspective, it seems a little pagan with Wicca overtones. Even in Northern India where it is still practiced, it is seen as a romantic, if antiquated festival. Nonetheless, this is one of the cultural customs that I have incorporated in my life.

The learning curve has been steep with a few bumps along the way. I made the mistake the first few years by eating in front of my wife during this day. Bad move. Also, I found that since my Mom lives far away and most likely would not participate in this traditional ritual, I am to prepare a gourmet breakfast before sunrise. These are easy things that I am more than willing to do, after all she is starving on my account. (I don’t do well with fasting and am very impressed with those who can). The greatest challenge, however, is finding the elusive moon.

Apparently it is hard to predict where the moon might be by observing the skies a few weeks prior. Google is useful in determining moonrise. But the tree line, mountain ranges, and cloudy weather have all put extra challenges in the way. One year while we were in Utah, we hunted for an hour, before getting on highway 80 and heading west out into the Wasatch valley for several miles. After turning around at an exit and heading down the entry ramp I spotted the moon (shalini can’t look at the moon except through a sieve), and abruptly pulled off the highway so she could perform the ceremony, while cars were rushing by.

In another year in Utah we looked and gave up because of cloud cover. Upon returning home, the clouds parted and the moon was right above the house.

While in the Amherst area I discovered that Hadley, more specifically the empty Shopping mall parking lot is a good area for moon spotting. Most years we have been lucky after a period of looking and waiting for clouds to part, except two years ago which was a rain out. I improvised by having a live image of the moon on my computer, and taking it outside in the covered porch, for her to perform the ceremony. I did not want to jeopardize my health.

Last year I was all organized. A special muffin purchased the night before from Whole Foods, along with a three egg omelet was delivered by 6:30 am. Sunrise was at 6:50. Although cloudy during the day the clouds were starting to thin with a few patches of sky visible. To save time I picked up take out from Paradise of India in our route to the mall so we could head straight home after spotting the moon. Walking out of the restaurant, while crossing the street I was busy scanning the sky, noticing some light breaking through the clouds. It was looking promising! Oblivious to traffic, last year’s ritual was still working for us as I was not hit by passing cars. After a short drive and while turning into the mall, I looked up and saw the moon making its way through the clouds. Overly excited about such an early sighting, I started careening into the oncoming lane of the parking lot road. The car behind me honked. Laughing, I righted the car and parked. Shalini immediately performed the ritual. Looking through the salad strainer, and pouring water in a circular motion completed the ceremony and saying the appropriate prayers. I gave her some gourmet dark chocolate candy bar, thanked her, and we both had some trail mix while driving back to eat a delicious meal. I was set for another year.

Although a little different, every year I look forward to this.