Karva Chauth
Every festival in Bangalore has different flavour. In Noida, Karva Chauth would have some very obvious signs. Suddenly all the roadside sellers would start to sell 'Karvas' the Karva Chauth Calender and a few days before the D-Day, the Mehndi walas would throng the streets. And God forbid, if you wanted to get the Mehndi applied on the Karva Chauth eve, you would have to pay 5-10 times the rate for very poor quality Mehndi. Anyone and everyone who could hold a cone, would come down to the streets to apply Mehndi.
In Bangalore, it was all subdued. One of the ladies in our complex had the foresight to call a team of Mehndi ladies and she asked for all interested ladies. I think more than 30 ladies signed up instantaneously and she was to come on Sunday evening, on the eve of Karva Chauth. She said she'll be there at 5:00pm. The lady in charge, keeping in mind the true meaning of these words called everyone at 6:00pm. She told me she would give me a call when the mehndi lady arrived. I didn't hear from her till 6:30pm, so I decided to ask her again. She said she expected the mehndi lady to arrive at 7:30pm. At 7:30pm she said she had no idea where the lady was and she would inform me whenever she arrived. I felt sorry for Anupama, for she must have been deluged with calls from everyone asking her where the lady was and when she would come and ofcourse, the order in which the mehndi would be put.
Finally, that lady arrived at 8:30pm (Bangalore Standard Time is worst than Indian Standard Time). I went to the clubhouse at 9:15 after dinner and was done by 10:00pm. It wasn't too bad but the waiting was a little unnerving. If we had known all along that she would come so late, we wouldn't have been worried.
All said and done, the ladies were experts, and the mehndi came about very well. My dauther too had mehndi put for herself the day before and we were both having fun.
The moon in Bangalore often plays truant on Karva Chauth day, and true to it's reputation, it was a cloudy night. Finally at 9:30pm, we saw a glimpse of the 'chaand', prayed to it and broke our fasts. It wasn't too difficult, especially with the gift that I got that day.
Now we are looking forward to Diwali .. yipee.. one more week to go.
In Bangalore, it was all subdued. One of the ladies in our complex had the foresight to call a team of Mehndi ladies and she asked for all interested ladies. I think more than 30 ladies signed up instantaneously and she was to come on Sunday evening, on the eve of Karva Chauth. She said she'll be there at 5:00pm. The lady in charge, keeping in mind the true meaning of these words called everyone at 6:00pm. She told me she would give me a call when the mehndi lady arrived. I didn't hear from her till 6:30pm, so I decided to ask her again. She said she expected the mehndi lady to arrive at 7:30pm. At 7:30pm she said she had no idea where the lady was and she would inform me whenever she arrived. I felt sorry for Anupama, for she must have been deluged with calls from everyone asking her where the lady was and when she would come and ofcourse, the order in which the mehndi would be put.
Finally, that lady arrived at 8:30pm (Bangalore Standard Time is worst than Indian Standard Time). I went to the clubhouse at 9:15 after dinner and was done by 10:00pm. It wasn't too bad but the waiting was a little unnerving. If we had known all along that she would come so late, we wouldn't have been worried.
All said and done, the ladies were experts, and the mehndi came about very well. My dauther too had mehndi put for herself the day before and we were both having fun.
The moon in Bangalore often plays truant on Karva Chauth day, and true to it's reputation, it was a cloudy night. Finally at 9:30pm, we saw a glimpse of the 'chaand', prayed to it and broke our fasts. It wasn't too difficult, especially with the gift that I got that day.
Now we are looking forward to Diwali .. yipee.. one more week to go.
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