Ramzan passed by quickly, with the ladies spending much of it in preparing sehris and iftaris. After the 20th of this month, however, another activity has been taking up most of their time: the preparations for Eid. Ladies of all ages are busy walking down the market streets, buying clothes, bangles and other accessories that they would like to wear on Eid. Every other lady in town is worried about what are they going to wear if the tailor doesn’t stitch their suits on time.
The bazaars and markets are crowded with families shopping for Eid. Some are seen buying clothes while others are seen trying to buy a pair of shoes that match perfectly with their clothes. There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the city!
This is why all the main roads that lead to malls and markets are heavily blocked. On an ordinary day, it takes about ten minutes to reach Liberty Market from my house, but on Friday night it took me nearly two hours to reach there.
People go crazy while preparing for Eid. Each shopkeeper is busy making money from the customers. The shops close after sehri time these days so one can easily imagine the massive crowd of people in the markets.
Many stalls have been put up for henna application and bangles which serve as a traditional ornament on Eid; for a lady, Eid is incomplete without them.
The clever shop keepers have raised the prices of all Eid-related products and are trying to play with the psyche of the customers, especially ladies are ready to pay the amount they ask for. ‘Eid mania’ is enough to drive people crazy.
Although Eid has its own charm, and I totally agree that the clothes and bangles and other accessories add up to its charm, but one should be wise enough to spend on the right and justified items.
Another charm of Eid are the extravagant get-togethers. Here, too, people spend lavishly, on the food, the decoration, the music, and other items.
I think that we have forgotten the very purpose of celebrating Eid, which was to share happiness with others. Now, we are more focused on celebrating Eid in a commercial way by wearing fancy and expensive clothes and dining in restaurants, rather than celebrating it with simplicity and making this occasion fruitful for ourselves, and everybody around us.