Forget the overpriced roses and pressure-cooked dinner reservations of February 14th. For many singles, especially in India, Valentine’s Day is amateur hour. You can swipe left on the hype, plan a “Galentine’s” night out, or simply dismiss it as a commercial holiday you can choose to ignore.
But there’s another day, one deeply woven into the cultural fabric, that silently creeps up and serves a potent cocktail of tradition, social pressure, and a profound sense of being on the outside looking in. This is why we believe we’ve found the loneliest day of the year for singles—and it’s not Valentine’s Day.
The day is Karva Chauth.
While Valentine’s Day screams for attention, Karva Chauth whispers. It’s in the intricate mehendi on your colleagues’ hands, the excited chatter in the family WhatsApp group, and the sweet smell of sargi being prepared before dawn. This isn’t about a date for Friday night; it’s about a deeply ingrained ritual celebrating a milestone many singles are constantly reminded they haven’t yet reached: marriage.
Why Karva Chauth Can Feel Like the Loneliest Day for Singles
The sting of feeling lonely on Karva Chauth is unique because it isn’t manufactured by marketers; it’s amplified by the people closest to us. It’s a day of beautiful, public devotion that can make you feel profoundly single.
Your social media feed transforms into a tsunami of perfectly filtered pictures: couples in coordinated ethnic wear, breaking their fasts against a romantic, hazy moon. The captions aren’t just “love you, babe”—they’re heartfelt odes to partnership, sacrifice, and lifelong commitment. It’s beautiful, and when you’re single, it can also be incredibly isolating.
While your married friends are fasting for their partners, what are you doing? Probably deciding between pizza or biryani for one. The contrast is stark. You’re not just without a partner; you’re a spectator to a significant cultural celebration of coupledom.
Then there’s the “Aunty Factor.” The day is a minefield of well-meaning but soul-crushing questions. The gentle smiles followed by the inevitable, “Don’t worry, beta. Next year, you’ll also be keeping a fast.” It’s a reminder delivered with love, but it lands like a tonne of bricks, reinforcing the societal expectation that your life is somehow incomplete without a partner.
How to Cope with Loneliness and Reclaim the Day
So, what’s a single person to do? Mope around and curse the moon? Absolutely not. The rise of Karva Chauth as an unofficial loneliness day presents an opportunity to flip the script.
Think of it as your annual ‘Self-Care Chauth.’ While others fast for someone else, feast on celebrating yourself. This is the perfect day to honor the most important person you need to love and cherish for a long, happy life: you.
Here are a few ways to cope with the loneliness and embrace being single on Karva Chauth:
- Treat Yourself: Order that biryani without a second thought.
- Indulge in Entertainment: Binge-watch that series everyone is talking about.
- Connect with Your Tribe: Call your other single friends and share a laugh.
- Embrace Freedom: Instead of seeing a day of exclusion, see it as a day free from obligation. No hunger pangs, no dressing up, no waiting for the moon.
Ultimately, the loneliness of Karva Chauth stems from a narrative that says your worth is tied to your relationship status. But that’s a story you can choose not to read. Love is beautiful in all its forms, and the most enduring love story you’ll ever have is the one with yourself.
So, when the next Karva Chauth rolls around, raise a glass (of water, or whatever you fancy) to yourself. You’re not waiting for someone to complete you—you’re already whole.
