Tayeba Sharif
Dear Eid,
This time around, I won’t be buying new clothes with fanciest designs to wear and take pictures for the world. I will wake up, wear an old dress and video-call all my relatives and friends.
This time, my brother won’t go to the mosque for Eid-namaaz, we’ll organise it at home, in the dining space with my father leading the prayers. This time, I won’t head out for lunch with my friends. I’ll indulge in my mother’s classic polao and roast. This time, I won’t head to Gelatissimo for dessert; I will savour my mother’s special shemai and zarda.
In the evening, I won’t go to Amari and chill with my friends. This year, I will sit with my whole family, roast the youngest member until he cries, and play a game of ludo, or a bit of chess.
This time, I will be giving away all my Eidi to the underprivileged. They need it more than I do for my chocolate addiction.
This Eid, I won’t host any dawaats for dinner, neither will I attend one. This year, I will feed those who have forgotten how shemai even tastes like.
This year’s Eid seems different, yet it is turning out to be exactly how it should be. After decades, this Eid will be spent in the right way.
Tayeba is a realist by day, and a dreamer by night.