Eid 2008

Eid from a different perspective

Wow! It's Eid again. The joy and the ecstasy are back. The colors of the festival have prevailed. Most importantly, we have got relief from the busy town life.

If you ask any teen-age boy or girl, what Eid is, most of them will probably answer that Eid means having fun with cousins and friends, eating delicious foods, wearing new clothes etc. Being a teen-ager I also think so. But let us see the Eid from a different angle.

The holy month of Ramadan is a month of self-control and self-restraint. But our daily works do not follow this rule. So, we have to proceed on with our daily works. One of the most boring things during Ramadan is 'TRAFFIC JAM'. It's easy to walk on foot than to wait hour after hour in the traffic jams. I don't want to pass through a road that passes beside a market or a shopping mall, because during this time the markets are filled with innumerable people. I am amazed to see the craze and energy of the people. Everyone wants to enjoy the Eid wearing new clothes. I was once passing beside the local hawker market. While passing, I just saw heads and heads. So you can imagine how many people were there!

Another craze of the people is going to their villages. Going to the village is an interesting matter for them but it's equally interesting seeing their craze. Seeing them I sing to myself, John Denver's “Country road, take me home, to the place, I belong”.

One thing drew my attention this year. I saw a kid with his parents returning from the market after shopping. On the other side a kid from a slum who is wearing nothing, sees them in wonder. That kid also wants to enjoy Eid, but how? Nobody will buy him a shirt. Years pass, but their Eid remains a dream. These unfortunate children fast the whole year.

Something to remember, something to forget, something to wish, something to dismiss. Let us remember our friends, forget the sorrows, wish for a prosperous country and dismiss the curses. So one day that unfortunate child will also enjoy Eid. Eid Mubarak!

(The writer is a student of Class X, Chittagong Collegiate School)