Sati Pratha and Karwa Chauth

Blessing bestowed upon a male in a Hindu religious ceremony…
Ayushmaanbhavah – May you live a long life.

Blessing bestowed upon a female…
Sada-suhagan-raho – May you never become a widow. Means: May you drop dead before your hubby.

Ayushmaanbhavah was never said to a female lest the blessing turns into a curse. The life of a widow in pre-20th century era (maybe even now in rural parts of India) can be summarized as:
Step 1: A bald headed life spent in the temple room worshipping Lord Krishna till accused of seducing a younger member of the clan who probably had abused her multiple times.
Step 2: Sent away to the pilgrimage in Varanasi which also happened to be a big brothel.

No wonder Sati Pratha found takers and no wonder it got abolished when the social scenarios changed. (Although I have personally come across villages where a widow has a broken down hut on the periphery of the village. The trucks parked outside add to the darkness engulfing their lives for 20 bucks or so.)

Context set, I hereby argue that Karva Chauth is nothing but an extension of the same social stigma. Scaring females to go through a day without even water (of course, some modifications have been made to suit the upwardly mobile career woman but the deal is still more or less the same) to pray for the long life of her husband.

It has been carefully camouflaged as the portrayal of love and dedication but that portrayal does not stand by the acid test of fairness and equality we so claim to believe in.

What else to say...
Oh yes, the wife hasn’t eaten all day. Gotta go and follow the process. Disagreements in beliefs take the back seat when it comes to fairness in love. Being starved tilts the decision in her favor. More importantly, it significantly reduces temper threshold! :P