10-22-2005, 05:38 AM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...269825.cms
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Women give Karva Chauth a beauty touch
Avijit Ghosh & Neelam Raaj
[ Friday, October 21, 2005 12:49:09 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NATHUPUR, SONEPAT: In Haryana's Nathupur, if it's Karva Chauth, a trip to the beauty parlour's a must. Fasting and facials, bleaches and benedictions go hand in hand. And Suman Devi, who runs a cottage beauty business, literally, hasn't been busier.
In the past two days, customers of all castes and age have eagerly trooped in. "Quite a few of them are Dalits," says the beautician. Barely a furlong away, mirror and mehndi are the points of attention in a Dalit home. Generation Next housewives in a Valmiki household are decking up for the day.
Meena, an attractive 20-something, has taken out her wedding finery while younger sister Reena, also married into the same family, puts on her lipliner. <b>"These days, most Dalits do the Karva Chauth. And we do it in the same style as the savarnas (upper castes)."</b>
It wasn't always like this. A decade ago only the brahmin and baniya women celebrated Karva Chauth in these parts of Sonepat district. But times have changed. Now, the Dalits not only observe the fast, they splurge. Some go to Narela, located on the western periphery of Delhi, to buy their saris, jewellery and make-up.
In fact, a Dalit woman also runs one of the three beauty parlours in the village and boasts of a clientele that includes jats and brahmins.<b> Caste doesn't come in the way of business for village bangle-seller Sharda Bansal either</b>.
"Many Dalits come to me to buy bangles for the festival," she says. Bansal has been too busy plying her trade to perform her own afternoon ritual of listening to the katha. "I have sold bangles worth Rs 1,500 to about 80 women today," she says. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Women give Karva Chauth a beauty touch
Avijit Ghosh & Neelam Raaj
[ Friday, October 21, 2005 12:49:09 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NATHUPUR, SONEPAT: In Haryana's Nathupur, if it's Karva Chauth, a trip to the beauty parlour's a must. Fasting and facials, bleaches and benedictions go hand in hand. And Suman Devi, who runs a cottage beauty business, literally, hasn't been busier.
In the past two days, customers of all castes and age have eagerly trooped in. "Quite a few of them are Dalits," says the beautician. Barely a furlong away, mirror and mehndi are the points of attention in a Dalit home. Generation Next housewives in a Valmiki household are decking up for the day.
Meena, an attractive 20-something, has taken out her wedding finery while younger sister Reena, also married into the same family, puts on her lipliner. <b>"These days, most Dalits do the Karva Chauth. And we do it in the same style as the savarnas (upper castes)."</b>
It wasn't always like this. A decade ago only the brahmin and baniya women celebrated Karva Chauth in these parts of Sonepat district. But times have changed. Now, the Dalits not only observe the fast, they splurge. Some go to Narela, located on the western periphery of Delhi, to buy their saris, jewellery and make-up.
In fact, a Dalit woman also runs one of the three beauty parlours in the village and boasts of a clientele that includes jats and brahmins.<b> Caste doesn't come in the way of business for village bangle-seller Sharda Bansal either</b>.
"Many Dalits come to me to buy bangles for the festival," she says. Bansal has been too busy plying her trade to perform her own afternoon ritual of listening to the katha. "I have sold bangles worth Rs 1,500 to about 80 women today," she says. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->