9 to 9

Marriage traditions and customs differ greatly from culture to culture, but culture does not affect the feelings and sentiments attached to marriage. 

Every married couple has one thing in common, each partner is attached with a string called love. So feeling and sentiments between husband and wife aren't different from any other couple living in any part of the world, or belong to different religion or cast..

For me marriage is not just an institution of love but many other emotions like hope, trust, faith, respect and happiness.

I am currently reading a book and found a beautiful quote by saint Kabir... 

प्रीत पुरानी ना होत है, जो उत्तम से लाग

सौ बरसा जल मैं रहे, पात्थर ना छोरे आग।

It means, Love never gets old if its with the wisest man.. Same way like stone never looses its power to produce fire when rubbed even if it remains in water for years. 

I believe marriages are made in heaven but you need to work on it to keep it alive.  So what if it requires us to follow rules and practice discipline. 

Karwa chauth is one among the rules or customs, its a fast that is observed for one day from Sunrise to moonrise and to make the perfect day unforgettable everyone starts preparing days before i.e. go shopping for clothes, bangles, makeup items,  spend hours in salon and so on.... 

I too observe this festive not because of the customs but out of love...

I like to keep it simple. My preparation starts from a night before... So its more of a 9 to 9 affair for me. 

A night before the big day 

9:00 pm 

Its time to get everything ready, so me and my husband along with our son went to shop items needed for tomorrow's fast sweets, feniya and matthi...and ended up at the road side chennai dosa corner. As we sat waiting for dosa,  my husband started joking of how I beautifully avoided cooking dinner and how outing is more of a pre karwa chauth gift. Moon was nowhere to be seen as it was a day before, almost full shining bright in sky. 

10:00 pm.

Markets looks spectacular with colorful lights on the buildings and people in jovial mood.

People are sitting on roadsides in tents, outside shops, in malls..almost everywhere, promising the best available designs against handsome amount 500, 1100, 2100...it goes on and on.... 

I never liked the idea of spending huge amounts just for a day's pleasure and importantly I have much interesting thing in mind. 

So the moment I stepped in my room, I started searching for mehndi designs.. Rejected many superb ones because I know my capabilities.. Lol.. Found simple one and brought my inner artist on work front.

Almost mixed two to three designs and after approx an hour was done with my left hand then came turn of right hand..and my husband jumps in with his ideas as it was his turn to show his artistic side..

Seeing my software engineer husband writing his codes is fascinating but seeing him paint my hand is romantic.

It's not just romantic but humorous too. Every flower, line, dot adds lots and lots of humor because every time he tried hard not to disappoint me he ends up with a unique design not just on my hand but also my heart. He goes on with his design and keeps saying "Itni bhi buri nahi lagi (Its not that bad), finally I have learnt my lessons...". and there we sat holding hands in middle of the night, laughing..

The D day.... 

Morning 5'O Clock... 

I am awake, ready to start the day.... Starting the day so early is so unlike me. I thought of eating as much I could and have plenty of water but ended up having one warm glass of milk with dry fruits. I don't feel like eating full meal at such early hours. There I sat in absolute silence with my glass of milk.

It's true that I don't like noise but this dead silence is really irritating. The only sound I can hear is of my heart.

Suddenly a voice came calling my name..  I went to the room and saw my husband awake. I was so happy to see him and the first thing he asked "Show me your hands." to which I replied "You are awake just to see my hands." and he says "No,  I want to see result of my efforts."  and there we were laughing out loud.. 

This was the first time when we both sat together on karwa chuth to enjoy the first meal. I am loving the way the day is getting started..  

11:00 am

The perfectly fine day leaves me wondering that how much power love gives that allows a person who can't skip one time meal or keeps eating one or the other thing in between meals can fast whole day. This is definitely the power of love. 

1:00 pm

Now the perfect day is getting bit faltering with the fragrance of maggi. No,  I am not hungry but the  maggi is luring me. Sundays are cheat days so both my husband and son agreed upon having maggi in lunch. 

The one who have spent years away from home for studies,  job etc knows everything about this super duper meal. Whole hostel gets to know that someone is preparing Maggi, it's aroma is so inviting that you cannot resist it. 

My husband kept asking "Aren't you allowed to eat?",  "It's ok to cheat sometimes"  and "Don't take these things seriously"... This is his love that doesn't wants me to avoid my meals but I didn't cheat, not because I am not allowed to but because I don't want to.... there's a difference. 

3:00 pm

Half day has passed, my body is tired and is uncooperative but not my courage, its still going strong. 

Its 33°C and I am thirsty now... Even my son is getting irritated and wants me to play hide and seek and other running games with him. 

5:00 pm

Getting ready for the pooja,  I never liked heavy clothes, make up or jewelry. That too typical bollywood style.. 

Just like every husband in the world, my husband too is fond of seeing his wife all dressed up. Well he never actually said that but the unspoken love is best form of love where eyes express and hearts understands....

So the idea of getting dressed is just to see him smile. I try to keep it simple but like every other woman I spend hours getting ready.

6:00 pm

Finally done the prayers to God now I am allowed to have a cup of tea or glass of milk.

Ahhhh! First sip.... It feels like first rain drops on barren land. A single cup is enough to energies me for next hours till the moonrise and visit the temple. 

7:00 pm

Visiting Temple for blessings of God and offering the Goddess with food that I'll have after Moonrise. Did some grocery shopping as its Sunday. I feel tired more than thirst and hunger. 

8:00 pm

Started preparing dinner. The best part is there are no restrictions on what to eat and what not to eat.. I am making kidney beans with rice. The idea of eating plate full of them is surely motivating me... 

9:00 pm

Finally,  free after moonrise,  offered water to moon, did all my prayers, wished for long life of my husband. 

I am still not as hungry but having dinner with the love of your life, I mean who'll say No to it.... 

You must be wondering,  why did I restrict myself from food and water... It seems like torture than romantic??? 

Well its your individual decision, no one has a right to dictate you. Weather you want or not its should be your decision.

I simply follow my heart. 

For me this festival is important as its that one special day other than wedding anniversary where I get opportunity to honor our relationship, we revive our vows. Moreover I have my beliefs: have faith in God. 

I fast because this is the best gift that money can't buy...i.e. Love. My fast is a non materialistic gift that has the dominating power over all the materialistic things in the world.

Love does not demands to be loved back. True love is selfless,  you don't expect anything,  you just want the person to be happy but when your love gets reciprocated, its the best feeling in the world. 

Today's festival was very special one as it was on Sunday. I had an opportunity to spend whole day with my husband. He gave me the best gift of life. He made me relax whole day and took care of home and our son. I couldn’t have asked for much better gift.  All thanks to him... 

The day spent was perfect leaving lifetime  memories that we'll cherish together. 

Thanks for reading... Don't forget to share your story in the comment section below