Ayaan Shams Siddiquee
Eid, the day of felicity for Muslims all over the world, the day which all Muslims wait to celebrate in high spirits, marking the end of the month-long fasting in Ramadan. This is the day all Muslims celebrate along with their family, friends and dear ones in merriment, cheer and exuberance. However, the on-going global pandemic has brought about a major change in plans.
Traditionally, Eid begins with the call to prayer. The warm embraces of our kith and kin would light up our day—which would further continue the whole day. Meeting, engaging and basically having a ball with our friends and family, and having traditional dishes like shemai, chot-poti, are a few things that constituted our Eid. But due to the current world-wide lockdown, everyone’s eagerly anticipated plans have been abruptly cut short.
This time around, the conventional celebrations won’t take place like they used to. The hordes of shopping malls and enthusiastic shoppers and retailers weren’t present throughout the month of Ramadan. The majority didn’t get new clothes and gifts this year around. Most of the employees and workers didn’t get their most awaited Eid bonuses. A lot of the street beggars and urchins won’t get their much-needed Zakat, Fitrah. Even though, amidst all these negative aspects and dark clouds, a silver-lining may be found.
These last two months of quarantine have brought us closer to our family than ever. We’ve been able to spend quality time with our parents, grandparents and siblings throughout the lockdown period. This in turn has strengthened our bonds as families in this technological society. This Eid could be a great opportunity for proper familial recreational activities and bonding. Watching a movie, playing a board game and generally enjoying each other’s company could be more pleasant than spending the day with your friends. Instead of spending money on roaming around, that money could be donated amongst the poor. Instead of physically meeting your friends and relatives, you could call them up and spread good vibes happiness amongst everyone.
While the drastic change in plans may be difficult to cope with, it is in human nature to adapt and overcome. In reality, happiness doesn’t lie in the conventional Eid plans. It doesn’t matter where or who you are spending your Eid with, as long as you have your loved ones around, happiness will find its way to you.
So, Eid in this pandemic may be different from regular Eids, but the heaps of happiness will stay the same if you’re willing to be happy!