To last or to fast

The month of September had me thinking. It was that time of year again when the religious festivities of Hindu society are in full bloom. The month of ‘Sawan’ is considered very auspicious and has festivals spread all over it. It is interesting that most of these festivals are mostly about fasting for women. Be it the fast of ‘Sawan Somwar’ or ‘Vara Lakshmi’ or ‘Teej’ or ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ and in many places even ‘Janmashtmi’. I’m a believer that festivals enrich and infuse spirit into our lives. But is our perception of these fasting festivals in today’s time still accurate and up to date?

Women fast for the long lives and prosperity of their husbands or sons. That’s how our civilization has always been like. Few centuries ago when there were infinite quests for power and land, men were warriors. Most of their time was spent in battlefields fighting and exploring. Women were confined to households. If I was in such an age I can imagine how dearly I would miss my husband or son. I would be always worried about their safety and pray for their long lives. In the holy month of ‘Sawan’ I would be determined to please the lords. I would fast, spend the day happily in the rituals, sing and pray. Fasting blended most naturally in the lives of women in those times. The fasting festival not only distracted women of their worries, but also gave them strength and joy in the social company.

How very different our modern lives have become? Women are working in almost all areas where men are. Modern families are still learning to evolve around the fact that when a mother or wife becomes a working woman, the expectations need to change. The running of a household needs to be a balancing act.  So that is why, as a working woman myself when I think about ‘Sawan’ approaching, my worries appear. I check the calendar hoping that the fast I intend to keep falls on a weekend. If it does not, I look up my office calendar to see how many meetings and conference calls I have on that day. Do I have any session where I need to host and debate for hours? Do I have any presentations scheduled? Doing all that while fasting is a considerable mental and physical challenge.  Also, when I hear about a grandmother in old age fasting through numerous days just because she has been doing that all her life, it troubles me. Why hasn’t the society realized that surely our men of present times don’t need so much praying for their long lives and safety anymore?

Fasting is a state of abstinence, from food, from worries and from the complex web of daily routines. It is a state of conquer over the demands of our mind and body. So this ‘Sawan’ my prayers included a hope that as a society we loosen up on the finer details on fasting. And next time when an aunty in forties informs a newly-wed that all through her life she hasn’t had a drop of water on ‘Teej’, I hope the newly wed doesn’t bother if she can’t keep up. I hope she fasts till she can willfully last.