My First Karwa Chauth

My day started at 6:45 with breakfast in bed from my husband!

I don’t have a lot of family around to be part of the day with me, but Brad was happy to be supportive (particularly after reading the story of the woman who was tricked by seeing a false moon and her husband died because of it! I’m probably not going to run into Shiva on the road to ask for his resurrection).

Brad also brought me a nice tall glass of water to hopefully see me through the day.

I had to work, so I wasn’t able to relax and focus on the holiday. I wore a nice salwar suit and some jewelry (including my allergy-inducing chura), but didn’t go all out yet.

I thought it would be hard not to graze on chips at work, but the chips are in the back of the office and I’m at the front. I’ve been eating a lot less lately in general, usually eating only three pieces of fruit and a granola bar during work hours. I felt a little hunger, but nothing too challenging.

I was also fine with the lack of water. My mouth felt a bit sticky by the end of the day, but I wasn’t suffering. (There are those who believe that I have chronic dehydration! Though I only drink water, I don’t really drink enough of it in general).

My cousin, the other Hindu in my family, called and we talked about what the fast is like and how it’s different in India being with your whole family around you.

In the evening I got dressed up in a nice sari (my wedding lengha is still in Massachusetts with my parents. I forgot that I was going to want it this soon again!) I prepared my thali and I played the karva chauth story in Hindi on my ipod.

We had looked up what time moonrise was and it was supposed to be 8:59 pm. Brad went out to Kabob Hut and picked up some dinner and galub jamon for us. We brought the bags outside along with some shawls for a picnic blanket and my thali. We got outside around 8:15 and waited, talking in the cold night air.

At 9:00 it wasn’t possible to see the moon as there were some trees and houses in the way. We anxiously waited for it. I realized that usually you see the moon and it’s lovely, but you don’t think a lot about it. I’ve never felt so excited to see the moon!

Finally Brad spotted it through the trees, large and orange. We gathered up my tray and chanted the chant, turned in a circle, and flicked water towards it five times. Then I picked up a tea strainer and looked at the moon through it, then turned it to Brad’s face. I knelt down and touched Brad’s feet and then he fed me a piece of galub jamon.

We went back to our picnic blanket and ate our food.