Do you remember the time of the year when you got to eat chane, puri and halwa? Of course, you do! A majority of us associate Kanjake, celebrated on the eighth or ninth day of the Navratras, with the special delicacies that our mothers prepared early in the morning. On this day, Hindu families pray before the girls, who are considered as avatars of the Goddess Durga, and feed them. It is also the day when the Navratra fasting ends.
A lot of us girls have been kanjaks as kids , and it used to make us feel like little celebrities! From getting ready to being pampered, here are 10 things about the day that we still remember fondly:
1. It was a grand announcement of the festive season.
The festive spirit was infectious and would just grow manifold with kanjake around. The mothers would make the house spick-and-span and buy cool new stuff that fascinated us.
2. We were mini celebs for a day!
Uncles and aunties would literally fight to have us visit their houses first.
3. We realized the perks of being a girl!
As kids, there were a lot of things our brothers did that we were asked not to. However, on this day, we were given more importance, and who doesn’t like attention!
4. It gave us another reason to deck up!
I remember getting super excited as a 6-year-old and putting on the only pair of lehenga choli that I owned at that time. Now that we think of it, wasn’t it cute to see little girls competing among themselves to be the best-dressed kanjak ?
5. The delicious halwa poori.
I remember waking up to the smell of suji being cooked by my mother early in the morning. Somehow, food seemed to taste better on that day!
6. Bagful of gifts and shagan
Wasn’t this the sole reason we excitedly hopped from one house to another? The gifts would keep coming and we would compete with others to see who got the most money.
7. It meant vacation time!
Most schools were off during ashtmi which was followed by Dussehra so it meant vacation time!
8. The family pampered us to the core.
The pampering did not end at the uncles’ and aunties’ places. Our family would treat us like princesses and the mothers would give us extra halwa from their plates!
9. We could finally eat non-veg food.
For a lot of us, the navratras are a time of abstinence from non-vegetarian food. Since kanjak was the last navratra, it meant that we could savour our favourite non-vegetarian delicacies once again.
10. More than anything else, it gave us hope.
Looking back, the day gave Indians hope by celebrating the girl child’s existence.
Time for some puri chane, guys!
