Eid – I am sorry that what use to excite me about you has become diluted with each passing year. The very spirit of celebration which used to blossom a few nights before Eid in the creases of my new clothes, glitter of my bangles, in the fragrance of food being cooked, in the freshness of new curtains, in the greetings of friends and neighbors.. has been abandoned decades ago. Now I simply drag my physical self to the occasion for the sake of my kids. Because I know someday they will remember these days as the best days of their lives.. and may write about it.
Now when I look back.. each morning of Eid during my childhood, I recall Amma was in the kitchen.. frantically working to get the delicacies out to the table.. so others can enjoy. I am sure she was feeling just the way I do now.. One time I told her I can’t fall asleep due to happiness. She smiled softly and said may you always feel the same. I have replayed those words in my mind numerous times and recently said it to my daughter.. somewhere these words validates my own short lived experience that I too have tasted how Eid should feel and also silent sincere prayer that my daughter’s life be different and her zeal remains forever intact.
Away from childhood home and loaded with expectations to perform the best performance with the best festivities because it is a happy occasion.. this may be story of most woman who are married, irrespective of their beauty, intellect, age, income or past.. and I pray that God accept this as a sacrifice too.
Festivals and their charm are a thing of childhood only… most importantly it is a labor of love from us mothers.. who don’t always show that it is often these days that can be the heaviest yet we go on pretending like it never is.
Oasis of Words 