As soon as Eid is appearing near, I can see many bakeries and ‘mithai’ walas being crowded by men and women who are booking their orders. We still present sweet dishes to our guests but that trend seems to have modified a little. In my childhood, I remember that every house served “Sawaiyan” or “Lab-e-shireen”. It was a must have item on the table! Also as soon as my brothers came back home after Eid prayers, my mom gave them a bowl full of dessert as per tradition. All this was so lovely. Although every relative made the same set of sweet dishes, the taste was different every time somehow. It was amazing how we used to make comparisons between the tastes and declare a winner by the end of the day! However I believe things have changed a lot.

I see many of my relatives now relying on sweets and cakes now. Though people still believe that a happy occasion should start with something sweet, the options have lost all their charm. One cannot simply praise the aunt or cousin for buying such an expensive cake and presenting it before us. I have no regrets in saying that the home made cuisines were one of the best parts of Eid. It was such a great feeling to see people buy all the ingredients themselves and spend hours preparing dishes for their friends and family, each one trying to be better than the previous Eid. The invitations were exclusive too as every guest got a special welcome to taste something that was specially made for them. But recently I don’t feel the same excitement anymore. This is because all that is presented before me is what I can afford myself. One has to admit that preparing food with love and effort was one of the many charms of Eid and it is slowly fading out, especially for food lovers. I already know that things like soft drinks, cakes from famous bakeries, the sweets, Nimko, ready to fry kababs, nuggets and similar items would be presented before me.

There can be no comparison between the taste, but the sad thing is that those who still attempt to make things at home aren’t appreciated anymore. People have made it a matter of their standard that the more there are ready to eat items ion the Eid menu; the better it is. It seems that preparing a dish with our own hands after investing a lot of time and energy has lost all it’s worth. The more you display expensive eatables, the more you are honored by the visitors. Sadly with this, it has to be accepted that instead of making this occasion happy, people have now made it a way to show off. Spending much on clothes and shoes can somehow be justified, but this new trend of doing nothing at Eid for the guests except of serving them ready-made food is pathetic. People should understand that this occasion should be tension-free especially from things like extending budget just for the sake of maintaining pride of presenting sweets and cakes from famous bakeries. It’s high time that people let go of this trend and come out of their complexes. It is not about expensive food, but about how much effort you have put in. People should understand that cooking for someone is the best way to show your love for them and people who still do it need to be appreciated more than they are.