City ladies come together to celebrate Karva Chauth

City ladies bonded over a grand celebration of Karva Chauth recently. Decked up in ‘solah shringar, ladies donned sarees in various hues of red, gold and orange to observe this North Indian tradition. “It is the only festival in which the married women get dressed like a new bride with all the accessories.

It is a very sacred and spiritual day for us,” says Neeru Mohan, a city-based entrepreneur who gathered at a friends’ bungalow to celebrate this special occasion. Around 20-30 Punjabi women in the city come together to observe this day every year, with the festivities starting even before the crack of dawn. “We take bath before the first sunrays and have the sargi prepared by our mother-in-law to commence the vrath,” adds Neeru.

The sargi thali includes seven to nine items, which are lovingly prepared by the mother-in-law — pheni or meethi seviyan, fruits,

coconut

, meethi

mathri

, dry fruits,

paratha

, sweets and juice, are some of the key essentials. “The sargi is a very essential part of Karva Chauth. It symbolises the love and bond between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and one cannot initiate the vrath without the sargi,” says Monita Khanna, a homemaker.

Once this ritual is done, the ladies gather together to pray to their goddess, while singing Punjabi songs and also listen to the katha, while observing a day-long fast, without food and water and end it by seeing the full moon and their husband through a channi.

“My husband observes this fast with me every year and though it is a small gesture, it means a lot!” says Neeru, as this is essentially a tradition observed by women for a long life of health and happiness for their husband.