Prepare a decent meal, share whatever is in your stores. And if you feel like, don a piece that is special, if not new. Dress up in the morning, and get set to enjoy the company of loved ones virtually, thanks to technology which has made these tough times of isolation that much easier. Yet, it is also a time of sharing our fortunes, and one of the steps is to remember preferring everything local while making purchases. The pandemic has crippled local industries, and it is up to us, who have the ability, to inject some much-needed vigour into the economy, and the fashion industry is a part of that.

Remember, here, the industry is not only made up of the glitzy and opulent outlets, it also includes the hundreds of artisans and the entire supply chain that the industry sustains. It makes it imperative to recognise that now is the time to support all that is deshi, and hold true to our oft repeated maxim, be deshi, buy deshi. Eid was never about extravagance, but of a shared community feeling, embracing our family and everyone around us. And maybe that is why this can still be a great Eid.

The clamouring shop assistants, some cheerful some grumpy and some utterly exhausted, the running to and from the tailoring shops, last minute shoe shopping, picking up a bunch of hairbands and clips from the roadside stalls, a new strainer or cushion covers, new pots for the beloved plants etc. are all part of the essential deshi Eid experience.

Most offices pay bonuses, and families try to get the best of everything that they can. However, the Covid-19 pandemic seems set to rob of us of that joy, not to even mention the repercussions of the very real health crisis, sickness, and fatalities.

The entire atmosphere of joy and festivity that permeates our surroundings every other year may not be available to us this year, yet, this might still become the Eid we remember most.   

By truly focusing on what is most important, the true essence of celebration is to have loved ones with us, and be healthy, and enjoy these blessings we have been bestowed with, this could in fact, become one of our fondest Eid to look back on.

Photo courtesy: Chondon