What’s Eid without the Ruet E Hilal saga or all the crazy Chand Raat pagalpan, right? Well, for a lot of pardesi Pakistanis Eid is without all those “essential” Eid things we enjoy in Pakistan. But that doesn’t mean their Eid is any less of an Eid or that unki Eid bari pheeki pheeki hogi, because it is far from it.
Pardes has its own fun things that Pakistanis don’t experience. Here’s what Eid in pardes looks like for Pakistanis:
Eid namaz was way more colorful than in Pakistan
Namaaz isn’t just all kurta shalwar, you see how a lot of different people dress up for the Eid festivities. It basically a great lesson in other cultures! But nothing beat the simple shalwar kameez, just pray someone hasn’t stolen your special Peshawari Chapal from the Masjid.
In many places Eid was surprisingly on the same day as in Pakistan
Pakistan’s Eid starts a day later than everyone else’s and it sucks that you can’t have the satisfaction of celebrating Eid together. This year, Mufti Muneeb just brought us all together.
Eid was either super social or not at all.
This totally depends on how social you are. If you know a lot of people then its going to be really busy, like Eid ke naashte se le kar raat ke khanay tak busy! Because everyone has little or no family with them on Eid, your friends become your family so the festivities are spent with them. One thing you learn in pardes is that your friends there will become much much closer than any other of your saggi Pupho ke bache.
Eid was a great excuse to explore the country you’re in
If you aren’t in the mood for a traditional Eid, you can always a grab a few friends and head out on an adventure. Travel the country you’re in and treat yourself to a ‘stay-cation’ at some fancy hotels!
Many in Western countries just had to work on Eid, as any other day.
People living in Veleyat and Amreeka don’t usually get to have days off on Eid. So sadly, they have to work. So Eid is then usually pushed forward to the weekend. Luckily the Muslim and Pakistani communities are usually quick to set up events and large Eid Milans, so it isn’t too bad!
Children in pardes weren’t showered in Eidi
This is indeed the saddest thing every kid who’s spending Eid pardes- style figures out. The greatest tragedy EVER! However thanks to exchange rates you will still win the Eidi competition and all your cousins back home will burn in jealousy.
Whether you’re Pardesi or not, Eid is always going to be the most looked forward to event of the year! Its just a time of celebration, happiness and of course eating.
How did you do your Eid?
Cover Image via: ramadantentproject.com
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