On 3rd November, I did Henna for an Indian Festival called “Karva Chauth”. This festival basically entails having the wife fast for her husband’s health and honoring their marriage. But my dad always joins in on the fasting with my mom and doesn’t let her do it alone. For this festival, all the women put henna on both their hands as it signifies being married. They apply the henna the night before the fast, so it can stain overnight. This festival is very special for my mom and one of her friends(who lives in our apartment building) and is only celebrated between Hindu-Punjabi’s. I am a henna artist and I have been practicing how to do henna for about 2 years now. Many henna artists say, the more you practice henna, the better you become and that is why whilst applying the henna designs for the two people I was growing as a henna artist. The design that I applied to my mom’s hand was extremely complicated and intricate with traditional Indian henna patterns all over. The type of henna I did for my mom, is called traditional bridal henna which basically means the henna is covering half of both arms on both sides. This was service as well because I didn’t take any money to apply the henna from either my mom or her friend. It was extremely fun and engaging for me because I have loved henna since I was about 4 years old and my mom always knew that I wanted to learn how to do it. I taught myself how to do henna and I learned from practicing designs from the internet onto a piece of paper. I started with a pen but then I slowly shifted to an actual henna cone. It takes dedication and patience to be able to practice this art because it is complex and can be frustrating when you mess up a pattern. All in all, this was a fun learning experience for me.  The CAS learning outcomes involved with this are 1, 3, and 4.  I have attached a time-lapse below of me applying the henna.

link to the time-lapse: IMG_4655