This is Life

                                   I " AMITA  BAHL",   Born and brought up in a family of ARYA SAMAJI'S, knew not the importance, significance, or benefits of 'fasting'. So after marriage when I saw my Mother in law keeping so many fasts,  many times a month, I was amused, perplexed, and curious. It was a difficult proposition: how a scientific minded young girl who was in first year Med school (self),  at that time would be able to rationalize what was the meaning of  all this fasting? My mind did not agree to it all. My psyche found is  amusing and confusing, why one should fast so  frequently and what was the aim and agenda? Then a new chapter opened up before me:   My role from that of being a daughter, a sister, a student now started adding wings, I had become a wife, a bahu and a sis in law .So many new roles , and while I was trying to catch up, and kind of understand the role of a married woman, I started to understand that married women and a lot of young

  TO FAST OR NOT TO FAST ON KARVA CHAUTH….IS NOT THE QUESTION   ///??? Well,     WELL,…well    !! Karva Chauth is just over; I’m sure you will all agree with me that our motherland India was in a grip of frenzied excitement. The fervour and josh especially amongst the women folks was in the air. It was palpable, and infectious. It was like a viral bug that had caught all women    all over the country   (esp northern India)!!      Yes ,we all know that Karva Chauth is essentially a festival based on some religious story (      many stories have been propounded) ;    majority of women still follow the dictum as laid down by the elder women   of the family & community, and   mind you, follow to the letter ‘ T’, but if you were to look around, see and feel the pulse of the people, you too, will realise that the psyche of the women and to a large extent- of the young, educated, n accomplished men , has undergone a Mental change. A great shift of the Vernier calliper is definite