yaadein

eid day at home used to be one of the days i used to look forward to all year. We used to get up early in the morning at 6ish, my dad used to go to eidgah for eid ki namaaz and we used to switch on tv to the live cast of eid prayers and then we would follow the prayers from the tv. and before the prayers used to start, we would try to identify which sheikh had come. almost celebrity status. when my dad returned home, we would wish everyone eid mubarak and then would have kheer kurma (sp!) which my aunt would have prepared the nite earlier. then my dad would give us eidi(eid money) and we would distribute to all. for bakri eid we would get our goats two days earlier and us kids would spend time "bonding"with the goats, talking to them(yea we are a bit weird) and feeding them. and since we had a huge courtyard we did the qurbani there only, sadly within hearing distance. obviously none of us kids ever went to see the qurbani, and we didnt even eat the qurbani meat for few days after which my parents would convince us that the meat is actually from outside and not the qurbani meat, but now i know otherwise.

at noonish relatives would come to our house, and us kids would watch movies/cartoons/songs or play board games. all of us were pretty bigre huwei and never really helped in the cooking or in the cleaning of the meat. my apa always had this task and she never complained about it either. and we were happy to let her to do it all. only one eid i was part of this task and seeing all the meat just put me off so much i couldnt eat for three days.

after prayers and lunch, we would all play dumb charades or pple would talk to each other and phones would be ringing off the hook. and then later in the evening we would go visit pple and then the whole family would go to the beach and we would sit on the sand eating nuts and fruits. the next two days, would be filled with long drives, picnics, playing cricket/cards and eating all kinds of desserts.

its so much different now, when im back in the US. it sometimes doesnt even feel like its eid. which always makes me a little sad. but even now when im back home, its still different. not bad different but just different. now when all of us have moved away, and have grown up .eid day is no more the games we used to play as kids, or how much eidi one got, but just a time to be together and although u dont really stay in touch with so many of the relatives that you have its just nice to see them after so long and still be able to laugh and have a good time. reminds you that no matter how much time passes, or how far you move away, that bond will always remain.