Ahh, the sehan is filled with the sweet smell of goat pee and faeces, and swarming with relatives from all over the country. That can only mean one thing: Bari Eid agayi he! Even though my initial description of it sounds revolting, but Bari Eid is the best time of the year!
What makes bari eid so wonderful for me despite the abundant goat pee, you ask? For that I will have to write a whole article, and I am going to do just that!
The day starts early in the morning in your nano’s house, despite having gotten to sleep around 4 A.M. The reason behind the late slumber is applying henna to everyone’s hands and catching up on all of the gossip that goes on in the family (Mamu jan won’t stay single for too long now)
Now I wake up around 7:00 A.M., but everyone is awake and wants to use the bathroom. Thus I have to wait for atleast an hour before I can use it (Har saal yahi haal hota he).
Then I wear the EID DRESS: the most important dress of the year (thus capitalized).
The EID DRESS is the crux of any Eid, maybe just as important as the bakra (Ok, maybe not as important). Phir Eid Namaz hoti he aur mard hazrat masjid chalay jatay hain.
Their return is usually accompanied by the star of the day: Qasayi Sahib. Ab poora saal ye nayab makhluq apnay habitat (gosht ki dukaan) tak mehdood rehtu he, lekin saal me aik din it comes out of its habitat. During this day, this rare species is treated as the royalty, giving them their desired money for their assigned work. Qasayi Sahib hi to aik bakray ko bbq me tabdeel krnay me pehla step hain.
So when they men are back from their eid prayers, the goats start looking more like mutton pulao and kebabs.
Abhi ghost sahi tarah zibbah nahi hua hota ke pehli bell hoti he. This leads to a never ending series of people asking for gosht. Esay Esay log atay hain jin ki existence ka bhi andaza nahi hota. You see domestic help that never shows up for work, yet here they are standing at your doorstep. Yahan tak ke maid ke abbu ke parosi ke mamu bhi gosht mangnay ajatay hain, and everyone thought he was in a coma. Guess the prospect of barbecues and karahi is capable of forcing people out of their comas as well.
The moment I’m in my clothes, I run to all my older relatives to get some eidi off of them. I stand there, anticipating the new crisp laal laal notes, yet the only thing I get is the laal laal gosht from their qurbani. The qurbani is usually done in the family lawn, where all the bakras are slaughtered one after the other. After that, comes my most favorite part: the food.
Ab khana to khub hota he! There are meat dishes and sweet dishes and more meat dishes.
Aur family drama ke bagair to eid hoti hi nahi he! The chacus are conspiring against their salas and the bhabis don’t like when their in-laws show up. The mamus are seen gossiping about their brother in laws. All this goes down at the dinner table.
This makes up for the lack of eidi, and aur bas din ko chaar chand laga deta he. The whole day is spent eating and meeting my relatives but usually just eating the food they prepared. Then I sleep around 4:00 A.M. again and repeat this same routine for the next two days. I end up gaining 6 kilos in these 3 days. But hey, I’m not complaining.
Image Credits: www.commons.wikimedia.org, www.pixabay.com
