Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Eid, then and now...
Then.....
Eid, in the UAE, has become a loads better occasion today than it was a decade ago. At least in terms of the options we have today. Eid is also a melancholic affair, because it brings back hordes of memories. Memories of a childhood spent in this same house, of scores of Eid prayers offered in the same Eidgaah, of the anticipation of Eid holidays, and the excitement of not having to touch the books for three straight days. I hated studying. Loved reading, but hated studying. In the Qureshi household, the only days you did not have to study were the days on which you were not allowed to fast as per shariah - the eid holidays.
One sorely misses going to the Eid prayers with one's adorably simple and amazingly wise father, one is hit by the pangs of not having one's brothers around to hug after the Eid prayers. In a strange way, one fondly remembers being rushed in the morning, because one was inclined to taking one's own time when bathing, which on the special day of Eid could not be allowed, because it could jeopardize making it to the Eidgaah in time. Then, ofcourse, there was the coming home to that hug and the kiss on the forehead from Walda. It was more a ritual in later years than impromptu expression of affection. It was just what you got after the Eid prayers.
Once knighted so, the three ogres would proceed to the next ritual - the pestering of the princess. It is amazing how she managed to be in a foul mood on the morning of every Eid. It was part of the ritual I guess...
Her sharp, curt retorts were the icing on the sheerkhorma. On normal days, she would get reprimanded for unladylike behaviour I guess, for being impolite and what not. The ogres would probably find themselves serving the equivilant of grounding. But, not so on Eid. It had become so much a part of Eid mornings, even Walid sahab and Walida would enjoy watching their little lady fighting off the ogres. Princess had this habit of lapsing into English when pestered, and that was what the linguistically challenged ogres enjoyed most. Poor thing. Its been so long since I was with the family on Eid, too long actually ... I don't know if she wakes up in the same foul mood today, though it looks highly unlikely. She must get pestered the same though. Yours truly was never the more original of the ogres anyway - so one doubts if his services are missed much. Post sheerkhorma, and Eidi, Eid was much the same every year.
The limited options we had in television stations, only the local television stations, meant that we were at the mercy of the mostly arabic stations - as long as they ran special programs for kids (read Japanese and English cartoons dubbed into Arabic), we had something to do. Walid saab was very particular that he did not want us getting influenced by the "dish culture" so we did not have PTV either. Occasionally, he would allow us to rent a video, but as we grew up this occasion became less and less rare. Perhaps because we had stopped watching hindi movies early on, we had not developed the immunity which was required to sit through a hindi movie as a family. English movies, mostly action movies, were considered a better option because they were often completely sterilized by the censor boards of GCC.
After that it could vary from sleeping off the rest of the day, to reading a novel if available, to calling all friends, to entertaining an occasional guest. In later years when we had moved into this pre-dominantly Pakistani neighbourhood, we would go out with the one or two friends from the neighbourhood, who could drive - but were required to be back for the family lunch. Not that we would miss Walda's delicious experiments in the kitchen for anything.
Yaadein gehri hain itni dil doob jayey
aur aankhun main yeh ghum num bun jaye.....
(Aadat - Jal)
and Now...
Every Eid in the last 6 years has been markedly different from all the others. The UAE is a strange place in that it acts more like a transshipment hub (only a matter of time before I used a shipping term) for many people. People come and people go, so you cannot really be sure you would be spending your Eid next year with the same people you spent it with this year. More often than not, people you were with the whole day on Eid have gone home this year to be with family, or have family visiting them from home. So, when I talk about Eid now, I shall talk about the current Eid. It was one of the most enjoyable Eids too.
Firstly, it was announced on the 29th Ramadan evening, which had completely as a surprise to almost the whole country. Somehow, we had all had this feeling that it was going to be a 30-day Ramadan, so when the Eid was announced, people scrambled to the markets to finish the shopping chores they had post poned to the last day. The last day had come a day earlier, and now the roads were clogged with bumper to bumper traffic, and parking lots of gift centres and shopping markets were full. We were part of the same crowd, and while we were there we got this call from Jalali Baba, who insisted we had to do our Eid with them in Abu-Dhabi. After a little persuasion, we agreed to leave for Abu-Dhabi after finishing the menial chores the same night, and join them for Eid. Glad, we did.
I had to get this haircut, and get my beard trimmed, but I was in for a surprise when I got to the saloon lane. It was crowded like crazy, and there were these lads, mostly locals, getting all sorts of procedures done on their faces. I saw some wearing masks and sitting out and hoped they had not taken offence to what I thought was an imperceptible shaking of my head. Others were there for the same purpose I was. By the time my turn came, it was almost midnight, and by the time we left for Abu-Dhabi it was 1:00 a.m.
We got to Jalali Baba's at about 3:00 a.m. and decided not to go to sleep lest we miss the prayers. Until then it was talk, talk, talk. After the prayers, it was some more talk, talk, and then sleep. At a couple of hours after noon, we were treated to bhabi's wonderful Eid meal, and I had to come to terms with my first deviation from the strict diet control I had achieved in Ramadan. Spent the whole day feeling fatter, and resolving not to trangress my limits again - until the next meal, when I completely caved in. The only damper was the fact that Jalali Baba did not have E-vision, and we had to miss on the Pakistan-India match. Jalali Baba was the only one not interested in the outcome, but for the sake of the other three adults, I kept calling friends and getting live updates. By the 30th over of Pakistan's inings, when it was clear that it was headed towards a nail biting finish, I was kicking myself for not forcing Jalali Baba to visit our place instead.
Got to see the higlights yesterday, and it gave me the same rush it would have watching the match, even though this time I knew the outcome. The only damper was the very unsporting crowd at Eden Gardens. I remember Pakistanis cheering each Indian shot as vociferously as a Pakistani shot when the Indian team was visiting Pakistan earlier this year - even though we lost the one day as well as the test series then. Consider that it was the first time ever that a test series was lost to India on home ground, and it puts things in perspective. I am glad we showed more poise, grace and sportsmanship as a nation even when we had lost. But hey, we won the match at Kolkata, and nothing dampens that - does it?
We stayed in Abu-Dhabi for two days, and left only on the next evening because I had an office to go to.
p.s. There was one other downside to the visit to Jalali Baba's. We were so busy getting onto each other's nerves, we hardly ever got around to logging on and wishing Eid Mubarak to blogistan on time.
Come January 13th, we shall make amends.
¶ 11/17/2004 01:27:00 PM
Eid, in the UAE, has become a loads better occasion today than it was a decade ago. At least in terms of the options we have today. Eid is also a melancholic affair, because it brings back hordes of memories. Memories of a childhood spent in this same house, of scores of Eid prayers offered in the same Eidgaah, of the anticipation of Eid holidays, and the excitement of not having to touch the books for three straight days. I hated studying. Loved reading, but hated studying. In the Qureshi household, the only days you did not have to study were the days on which you were not allowed to fast as per shariah - the eid holidays.
One sorely misses going to the Eid prayers with one's adorably simple and amazingly wise father, one is hit by the pangs of not having one's brothers around to hug after the Eid prayers. In a strange way, one fondly remembers being rushed in the morning, because one was inclined to taking one's own time when bathing, which on the special day of Eid could not be allowed, because it could jeopardize making it to the Eidgaah in time. Then, ofcourse, there was the coming home to that hug and the kiss on the forehead from Walda. It was more a ritual in later years than impromptu expression of affection. It was just what you got after the Eid prayers.
Once knighted so, the three ogres would proceed to the next ritual - the pestering of the princess. It is amazing how she managed to be in a foul mood on the morning of every Eid. It was part of the ritual I guess...
Her sharp, curt retorts were the icing on the sheerkhorma. On normal days, she would get reprimanded for unladylike behaviour I guess, for being impolite and what not. The ogres would probably find themselves serving the equivilant of grounding. But, not so on Eid. It had become so much a part of Eid mornings, even Walid sahab and Walida would enjoy watching their little lady fighting off the ogres. Princess had this habit of lapsing into English when pestered, and that was what the linguistically challenged ogres enjoyed most. Poor thing. Its been so long since I was with the family on Eid, too long actually ... I don't know if she wakes up in the same foul mood today, though it looks highly unlikely. She must get pestered the same though. Yours truly was never the more original of the ogres anyway - so one doubts if his services are missed much. Post sheerkhorma, and Eidi, Eid was much the same every year.
The limited options we had in television stations, only the local television stations, meant that we were at the mercy of the mostly arabic stations - as long as they ran special programs for kids (read Japanese and English cartoons dubbed into Arabic), we had something to do. Walid saab was very particular that he did not want us getting influenced by the "dish culture" so we did not have PTV either. Occasionally, he would allow us to rent a video, but as we grew up this occasion became less and less rare. Perhaps because we had stopped watching hindi movies early on, we had not developed the immunity which was required to sit through a hindi movie as a family. English movies, mostly action movies, were considered a better option because they were often completely sterilized by the censor boards of GCC.
After that it could vary from sleeping off the rest of the day, to reading a novel if available, to calling all friends, to entertaining an occasional guest. In later years when we had moved into this pre-dominantly Pakistani neighbourhood, we would go out with the one or two friends from the neighbourhood, who could drive - but were required to be back for the family lunch. Not that we would miss Walda's delicious experiments in the kitchen for anything.
Yaadein gehri hain itni dil doob jayey
aur aankhun main yeh ghum num bun jaye.....
(Aadat - Jal)
and Now...
Every Eid in the last 6 years has been markedly different from all the others. The UAE is a strange place in that it acts more like a transshipment hub (only a matter of time before I used a shipping term) for many people. People come and people go, so you cannot really be sure you would be spending your Eid next year with the same people you spent it with this year. More often than not, people you were with the whole day on Eid have gone home this year to be with family, or have family visiting them from home. So, when I talk about Eid now, I shall talk about the current Eid. It was one of the most enjoyable Eids too.
Firstly, it was announced on the 29th Ramadan evening, which had completely as a surprise to almost the whole country. Somehow, we had all had this feeling that it was going to be a 30-day Ramadan, so when the Eid was announced, people scrambled to the markets to finish the shopping chores they had post poned to the last day. The last day had come a day earlier, and now the roads were clogged with bumper to bumper traffic, and parking lots of gift centres and shopping markets were full. We were part of the same crowd, and while we were there we got this call from Jalali Baba, who insisted we had to do our Eid with them in Abu-Dhabi. After a little persuasion, we agreed to leave for Abu-Dhabi after finishing the menial chores the same night, and join them for Eid. Glad, we did.
I had to get this haircut, and get my beard trimmed, but I was in for a surprise when I got to the saloon lane. It was crowded like crazy, and there were these lads, mostly locals, getting all sorts of procedures done on their faces. I saw some wearing masks and sitting out and hoped they had not taken offence to what I thought was an imperceptible shaking of my head. Others were there for the same purpose I was. By the time my turn came, it was almost midnight, and by the time we left for Abu-Dhabi it was 1:00 a.m.
We got to Jalali Baba's at about 3:00 a.m. and decided not to go to sleep lest we miss the prayers. Until then it was talk, talk, talk. After the prayers, it was some more talk, talk, and then sleep. At a couple of hours after noon, we were treated to bhabi's wonderful Eid meal, and I had to come to terms with my first deviation from the strict diet control I had achieved in Ramadan. Spent the whole day feeling fatter, and resolving not to trangress my limits again - until the next meal, when I completely caved in. The only damper was the fact that Jalali Baba did not have E-vision, and we had to miss on the Pakistan-India match. Jalali Baba was the only one not interested in the outcome, but for the sake of the other three adults, I kept calling friends and getting live updates. By the 30th over of Pakistan's inings, when it was clear that it was headed towards a nail biting finish, I was kicking myself for not forcing Jalali Baba to visit our place instead.
Got to see the higlights yesterday, and it gave me the same rush it would have watching the match, even though this time I knew the outcome. The only damper was the very unsporting crowd at Eden Gardens. I remember Pakistanis cheering each Indian shot as vociferously as a Pakistani shot when the Indian team was visiting Pakistan earlier this year - even though we lost the one day as well as the test series then. Consider that it was the first time ever that a test series was lost to India on home ground, and it puts things in perspective. I am glad we showed more poise, grace and sportsmanship as a nation even when we had lost. But hey, we won the match at Kolkata, and nothing dampens that - does it?
We stayed in Abu-Dhabi for two days, and left only on the next evening because I had an office to go to.
p.s. There was one other downside to the visit to Jalali Baba's. We were so busy getting onto each other's nerves, we hardly ever got around to logging on and wishing Eid Mubarak to blogistan on time.
Come January 13th, we shall make amends.
¶ 11/17/2004 01:27:00 PM
