A Chaand Raat: Eid Or Karvachauth

Eid mubarak, everyone! 5th June, 2019. Since today is Eid, I felt like sharing a thought with you guys.

Although I'm a non-muslim, I have a bunch of Muslim friends and I know that Eid is one of the most celebrated festival for them. I know that after going through all the fasts or Rozas during the month of Ramzan, they celebrate the end by breaking their fast with mouth-watering dishes. During this occasion the folks offer prayers to the God. So, Eid is not just about religious emotion, but it is also about friends, family and of course, good food. From Mutton Biryani to Seviyan, from Phirni to Haleem, we people crave for such foods.

Eid is almost incomplete without Mehndi, shoppings and getting dressed up, say my friends. The night comes alive with decorative fairy lights and with all the families coming together wishing each other "Eid Mubarak." Millions of Muslims throughout the world join in this joyous celebration.

There's a connection between the Moon and this most awaited festival. Eid al-fitr doesn't begin without the sight of the new moon in the sky. So the new moon marks the end of Ramzan. The Moon plays an important role that shows a beginning of a new month.

Writing through this paragraph, it made me think of another festivity. According to Hindu scriptures and Shastras, the Hindu calendar suggests some festivals or rituals to be performed every month by Hindus. Out of all of them, the fast that is most important for married women, is called the Karvachauth and it is believed that if married women fast on this day, it helps in prolonging the life of their husbands and also brings happiness in the family. Nowadays many unmarried girls also perform this ritual as well as many husbands. Hashtag fast for her. Women have mehndi. Also, they get decked up with all jewelleries, sarees, lehengas, bangles and bindis.

When the Moon is sighted, all the women who kept the fast during the day for the long life of their husband, after sighting and worshipping the moon, take the first bite of food for the day from their husband’s hand.

So what we could see here is that "Chaand" or the Moon is therefore serving both the two festivals- Eid and Karvachauth, and the two religions Hindus and Muslims. Take a moment and just imagine the two communities performing their respective rituals together living beside each other. You now understand why "Unity in Diversity" is a commonly used phrase that we use to tag India with. Right? India has faced many difficulties which tested its unity. No matter what we have had gone through, we Indians do celebrate unity in diversity, at least most of us. In India, where several religions coexist, it is natural that there should be religious conflicts and apathy. But apart from that what makes us strong is when we come together in support of each other. From the day when a Hindu temple in Kerala welcomed Muslims to offer prayers in its premises on Eid after their mosque got submerged in the floods to the instance when a Muslim family of Guwahati took care of Shiva temple for five hundred years, you'll able to understand what Unity in Diversity is.