EID (A muslim holiday that celebrates the end of Ramadan , fasting)
My family and I celebrate every holiday, but nothing brings in our Pakistani culture and traditions to life, the way Eid does. Eid is celebrated at the end of Ramadan, a month where we fast from dusk till dawn, pray and try to stay away from all sorts of sin. The whole concept of fasting is not only about staying hungry from dusk till dawn. The concept of fasting teaches us patience, patience to not angry when you are hungry, patience to not lie, engage in bad doings while fasting because all of this can break your fast. The concept teaches us purification of the mind, body, and soul. Fasting 8-10 hours a day is good for detoxing your body, but during this time knowing that you canāt lie, cheat, get mad at someone for an unjust reason all helps us practice patience in every aspect and purifies your mind, body and soul because not only are you staying away from food, but you are also trying to stay away from lying, cheating, sinning etc. A lot of people also quit drinking alcohol during this month to stay away from āharamā (forbidden things), kind of like lent when you give up something you love/ or for the sake of God for a certain amount of time.
Ramadan lasts for 30 days and the first day after fasting ends is called Eid Al Fitr. Eid is a celebration of all sorts of things, love, family, culture dancing, meeting all your extended family, tons of eating, praying, and getting money or a gift from your elders for fasting the entire month. Usually that gift is money, and we call it Eid. The celebrations start on the last fasting day of Ramadan, which we call āChaand raatā meaning āfull moon night.ā After breaking the final fast on chaand raat, the celebrations start. Usually, the women get together at someoneās house or at a festival to get henna applied to their hands. The Henna artist from our local South Asian salon usually comes over to whoeverās house we are celebrating at to apply henna to everyone. I donāt usually do this because I donāt like when henna turns yellow when it starts to fade. But my mom and sister love getting henna. We usually celebrate Chaand Raat at my momās friends house where all my momās friends and their daughters get together for dinner, henna, dancing and just a night of fun to celebrate the end of Ramadan. We wear traditional outfits called āshalwar kameezā, itās a long shirt or dress that goes a little bit below your knees, paired with bell bottoms or leggings, depending on whatever style you like. The gowns or long shirts called a ākameezā is usually full of embroidery, thread work or stone work, depending on how fancy you want to get. Everyone dresses up to the fullest as if we are going to a wedding with jewelry, full make up and colorful sequined bangles that we call āchooriyanā. The night goes by dancing, eating, and catching up with friends.
The following day is EID. In the morning my mom wakes up the earliest because she makes everyone ā dhoood seviyanā which is a traditional Pakistani dessert which we eat on Eid for breakfast. Dhood seviyan is, made from milk, condensed milk, sugar, and angle hair noodles. I know the concept of noodles dipped in milk and covered in sugar sounds weird when you first hear it but when this dish is burning fresh off the stove, itās divine. The best way to eat it is when itās warm and fresh off the stove but since my mom makes it early morning when all of us are sleeping, she puts it in the fridge so it could turn into more of a rice pudding kind of texture. I guess you can call it noodle putting. Only on Eid it is that as soon as I get up, I get into the shower and get ready right away instead of coming straight downstairs in my PJās to wish my family āEid Mubarakā. I guess you could do that if you really wanted to but itās a tradition in our family that on the day of Eid everyone gets dressed up first thing in the morning. My shalwar kameez is usually already ironed and laying on my bed the morning of and I just shower, do my make-up, put on all the jewelry I can and get ready with my high heels as if I was literally going to a wedding. Our Eid outfits are always pre-selected every year because thatās the only time of the year I would wear something like that. I usually order them from Pakistani designers by just browsing online.
As soon as I am ready, I come downstairs and meet each member of my family to wish them Eid Mubarak. When we are wishing each other Eid Mubarak we hug them thrice and say Eid Mubarak. The hug is more like when you are meeting friends and send them a kiss on each side. I wish everyone in my family first and then my dad and my grandpa because I know thatās where I will be getting the āEidiā from lol. My dad usually just hands me hundred dollars and cash and my grandpa always puts it in an envelope and hands to me. The idea is that, until you are not dressed up and wish your elders a happy Eid Mubarak, you do not get the āEidiā lol. After all the hugs, kisses, Eid Mubarakās and Eidi happens, then comes the Eid Prayer. The Eid prayer is just like a regular namaz prayer but on Eid everyone prays together at the local mosque in our area, the Eid prayers at the mosque have certain timings. If we miss the prayer at the Mosque we usually just gather as a family in our living room and perform the prayer at home. Either way, praying as a family on Eid is a must! Praying for peace, love, prosperity, happiness, and success as a family.
The entire day of Eid is all about family, friends and relative. Around mid-day, all my cousins, aunts, uncles, family friends, relatives, mom and dadās friends, my brotherās, even some of my neighbors, literally everyone we know in Virginia gather up for an open house lunch/tea at my house. I call it open house laughingly because from 2pm to about 10 pm I constantly have people coming and going from my house, to eat, talk, have fun and wish each other a very happy Eid. My mom usually decorates the corner of the house underneath the large spiral staircase with an Eid Mubarak banner and balloons. Once all her friends come over and my friends come over the decorated area under the staircase turns into our picture corner. First my mom spends fifteen minutes taking pictures of me and my friends and then I must spend around thirty minutes trying to take pictures of my mom and her friends. Lol the aunties are never happy with their photos, itās always ācan you take another oneā. We have an open kitchen with two dining rooms and two living rooms attached to it. The kitchen counter is decorated with a buffet of all sorts of food that my mom gets catered from a restaurant usually and then our breakfast table in the corner gets decorated with fancy table mats and turns into dessert table with soufflĆ©s macaroons, a chocolate fountain, cake, rice pudding and traditional Pakistani sweets. The entire day is spent talking, eating, and eating some more. And the funniest moment to me is when me and my friends are sitting at one of the dining tables, trying to eat food, one of my mom friendās will come up to our table and say, ācan someone take a picture of us?ā and all of us at the table look at each other thinking whoās going to go. Because this isnāt oh, I took one picture and I am done, this is literally you are taking one billion pictures till all the aunties in the group are satisfied with it (laughs). And that is how my family celebrates Eid, a day of thankfulness, love, peace, friends, music, food, prayer, and lots of gratefulness for life in general. I feel like thatās the entire of concept of Ramadan, learning to be grateful for not just food but everything that you have been given in life. Because staying hungry for so long teaches you patience but it also teaches you to feel for others. To feel for those people who canāt get food when they want, however they want. In general, itās a time to get grounded, be humble and realize all the blessings you have in life and be thankful to God for those blessings.