The Taste of this Eid

HELP TO PREVENT WAR IN SOUTH ASIA

All who value peace and human life need to intervene and stop war in South Asia. India and Pakistan are poised to engage in such a misadventure as their respective troops and missiles (possibly nuclear) face each other on their border and on the Line of Control in Kashmir. This is happening while we in the United States are busy watching the news from neighboring Afghanistan.

People of Indian and Pakistani origin especially need to wake up to the reality of what kind of misery this conflict will produce. Our armchair warmongers of South Asian origin who now make their homes outside the region, in Europe, Canada and here in the United States need to get a large dose of reality.

Some Pakistanis are arranging a peace march at a Northern California venue (exact date and place to be decided) this week and urge all from the South Asian (aka “Desi”) Diaspora and their friends to protest against the possibility of war between India and Pakistan. I hope that Americans will join us and show solidarity with the pursuit of sanity in the region. Let us have a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year in a part of the world where the misery of poverty already rules the streets. Help us stop this looming war.

Ras H. Siddiqui

Sacramento, california

amun to allah and back ....

..... and yet we persist in prostrating ourselves and offering sacrifices to a god who has failed us ..... is it possible that, like akhenaten, we might be better off dumping the god that demands so much and yet gives back nothing in return ? ........ but the priests won`t let us, and our souls are imprisoned by our fears and beliefs - we are doomed to suffer more eids and more suffering until a new god speaks to us .......till then let`s all pray :

Amun,

Master of the silent ones,

Father of the poor,

When I call upon you

You heed my pleas,

O Amun, Master of Thebes

Savior from the nether world

I guess the poem is about basic human guilt. Been there, stopped feeling that. Looooong ago.

One more point: I always thought M-people hogged like pigs after breaking fast every day at sundown. What`s this aout being starved for a month??

Not badly written though. Highly unpretentious, which I like.

SM

Dear Bina ,

lovely article .This time round i spent Eid in Pakistan amongst family and close friends , after a lapse of over 10 years or perhaps more .The build up towards Eid was very exciting. The last 10 days of Ramazaan.This time i found quite a change in the sense that women were actively going to Taraweez at their neighbourhood mosques .Young girls would set out with their friends , mind you these are girls who are not particularly religious ! i would occassionally here an after remark `` Aaj tou moulvii ney mar diya , teen ghantey ki namaz parthai ``. These gave me more mixed feelings , than the traditional Eid hype of running to the tailor on chand raath to collect your clothes ,and the poor tailor still managing to keep up with his smiles ... i guess it becomes more of a reflex action, after sometime , rather than a voluntary act of happiness :)

Eid day was full of the usual hustle bustle .... visiting ..... after a long time i heard the word `` calling `` instead ..... ladden trolleys with every conceivable colour , shape of mithaies , sheer khormas and the works .... but yes amongst all these festivities , i could not help but think of the other side of the fence .... well lets just hope it was a Happy one , in more than one ways for the majority .

love ,

sa:)

Very nice, Bina. :)

I especially liked

``...small girls in lipstick and party dresses

with pyjamas on underneath and veils on their heads

to preserve their modesty.``

Aamir

Can anybody from the subcontinent remember a single Id which was NOT bittersweet for this reason?

Anyone?

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Bina Shah:

Thank you for transporting us back home.When all the six senses dress up in word-costumes--they are called poetry.This was!

good story. You are good poit. I can understand. good luck

Eid Mubarak to you Bina.
Very powerful and to the point. Eid day can also
be an educational experience for people who retain this uncanny ability to feel for others.
Loved it!

Ras