KARVA CHAUTH

Manjila Padmabhan really went overboard in her critism of Karva Chauth
She seems to have got carried away by her pro-liberated woman attitude ,to the extent of discussing this festival in the same breath with the deplorable rituals of sati and dowry deaths

To set a few doubts right,it is not a new festival but very old, and no husband has ever asked his wife for fasting for him.One day of fasting cannot be called starvation ,deprivation ,underprivileged etc.Husband join in ,with their wives,in celebrating the festival,and few even fast with their wives on this day as a mark of solidarity. Lastly,in today's health conscious times,when fasting once a week is popularly being followed , fasting once a year is hardly objectionable

Fasting , if it can be called sacrifice,is definitely not emotional blackmail, Its just another way of expressing love, and when there are days dedicated to everyone,father,mother,friend,children,boss,doctor and possibly everyone under the sky,then why such a hulla-bulla on a day being dedicated for the husband.Its just a sweet-nothing ,for the common women to express her love for her husband.Not many couples in India can even think of a sonyVAIO or an ostrich farm as gifts,as suggested by her.Wonder if giving such expensive gifts is really an expression of affection or love!

Its shocking that she has met just one person observing the festival,when it is quite popular ,specially in north India.To shock her further, I would like her to know the ladies also fast on Chhat,Kajri-teej and Nag-Panchmi for their husbands.Does she know that mothers fast for their children too,in India

.The day is the Indian Valentines day and is spent with so much of love,fervor,doting and closeness .The husband gives gifts to his wife who dresses in new clothes,as a bride,and in turn gives gifts to her mother-in-law for giving birth to her life-partner,a gesture that I find uniquely wonderful and thoughtful.

I recommend that next year she should spend a day with a new couple observing Karva Chauth .She may like to reconsider her opinion on it and realize that fasting on that one day together may be as romantic than a hearty candle-light dinner for two in a five-star-hotel on the remaining 364 days.