Eid Day in a Pakistani Household

On the 29th of Ramadan, my body almost failed me physically. Not because of fasting - I had over a dozen guests at home and no house help. I know the concept of house-help or servants is alien to most of you, but in Pakistan, we can't survive without them. There are several reasons...

• the nuclear family system is not so common here
• we depend on females of the home for our daily chores like cooking and cleaning
• we are extra hospitable (don't let guests help around)

In my case, the first two aren't much of an issue. I kind of have a nuclear family and my husband tries his best to help around the home(which is very uncommon in our society).

The third scenario... well, can't do anything about that...hence, the need for "paid-help".

I swear I'm not Emily Gilmore but my house help quit the job right before the guests started arriving. The last week was chaotic in terms of endless chores at home. I think I have never washed as many dishes in a year as I had to wash in the last few days.

So, 12 guests, no extra help, it was just me and my husband dividing chores and entertaining everyone. In the end, his chronic back pain re-emerged and I had a severe episode of migraine.

Hence, on the eve of the 29th of Ramadan, I wished for a successful moon sighting. That means, if a new moon (cresent) is visible then Ramadan would end and Shawwal would begin and on 1st Shawwal, we celebrate عیدالفطر (read: 'Eid-ul-Fitr').

My guests were here to celebrate Eid with us and they were going to leave soon after. It's not that I don't love to host, it's just that things were getting beyond my physical capacity.

Right after breaking our 29th fast and offering مغرب (read: 'maghrib') prayer at sunset, we went outside to find the moon. We tried searching for it for good half an hour, I even thought of taking out the telescope, but we couldn't see it because according to Stellarium it was only 2° above the horizon and dense clouds were lining that region.

However, in many areas of the country, there were successful sightings, so around 8:30 pm, Eid-ul-Fitr was announced for the next day.

^{I took this picture on the 2nd night of Eid (means 3rd Shawwal - in Islamic/lunar calender date changes after sunset), the age of this moon is 3 days.}

With that, چاند رات (Eid Eve) rituals began -

• Ironed the Eid clothes

• My mother-in-law cooked گاجر کی کھیر (read: 'gaajar ki kheer' or carrot's pudding in English)

• Distributed فطرانہ (read: 'fitrana') - It's obligatory in Islam (for all those who have food on their tables) to pay فطرانہ to the needy before Eid prayer. It's an amount equivalent to the local cost of one basic meal (350 pkr or 1.2 USD). فطرانہ is even applied to kids and babies, the head of the family can pay on everyone's behalf. For if there are 4 people in a family then the total amount would be (1400 pkr or 5 USD). The goal is to try to include needy people in the festivities of Eid.

• Did quick shopping for breakfast staples (bread and eggs). I always look forward to the first breakfast after Ramadan. It somehow always feels weird.

• Called henna artist for myself. soulfuldreamer already shared the details.

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On Eid Morning, all of us got ready, wore Eid clothes, and offered Eid prayer (males in the local mosque and ladies at home). This was followed by wishing everyone Eid blessings and an exchange of عیدی (read: 'Eidi' - it's an Eid gift which is usually cash). It's customary to give عیدی especially to kids and ladies. I also received a good amount which I can't wait to splurge (just kidding, I'm a thoughtful buyer). 🙃

After having a light breakfast together, I cooked Chicken Shinwari and Mutton Pulao for lunch. Everyone loved both dishes.

^{With all the guests and kids at home, I didn't do any decor. It was a simple intimate lunch with family.}

Eid is incomplete without pictures. So, we took pictures together in the front yard, afterwards. It was hard to keep kids still and in the frame.

^{My kids with their cousins and grand-dad, all wearing traditional shalwar kameez - sharing the picture to only give you an idea of how males dress up on Eid in Pakistan, hence no face reveals}

^{I'm also wearing traditional shalwar kameez with dupatta(scarf) and khussa shoes. Husband is wearing a waistcoat with shalwar kameez and پشاوری چپل (read: 'peshawari chappal') for shoes}

پشاوری چپل is also a traditional shoe like Khussa which I'm sure you are now familiar with (all courtesy to Maan). The chappals my husband is wearing originated in the city of Peshawar, hence the name.

Some historians narrate that it was first designed in the current design at the end of the 19th Century. Initially, it was worn by Khans (Tribal Leaders) Later it became part of the casual attire of Pushtoons. It is famous in Afghanistan as in Pakistan.

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Our guests left soon after the photography session. Since we were already dressed up, we thought to distribute the dessert to a couple of our friends who stayed back in town for Eid. One of them was of course Maan and her family. ((:

In a rush, I completely forgot to take the pictures of the dessert boxes.

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We were back home in the afternoon. I cleaned up the messy home and had some rest. Wrote a few lines of this post but then it was time for Eid dinner. I had a great time with one and only Maan at dinner.

^{She's clearly outshining me. 😀}

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Some afterthoughts...

On the second day of Eid, we had some more guests, which meant, another busy day.

It's the third day now, everyone's gone. I finally found some time to sit and relax. And to finish writing this post which I started on 1st day of Eid.