After having spent 31 Ramzans in this country, each followed by the grand festivity that Eid brings I have started to look forward to them year in and year out. Firstly because as a smoker they provide me with a virtual detox from the harmful but glorious nicotine wafting through my system and secondly they are a chance for celebration in our normally dull routine lives, no matter that now with greying hair I do not get much Eidi but still it is fun to see the whole nation happy as one family.
Having said that even the arrival of this pious month has not managed to do anything to uplift the national spirit this year and there are no faces to point the blame at either. Forget the fact that our scholars the comic bunch that they are, can never get around to deciding the sighting of the moon with which this month begins. Or that they forever fail to observe the end of Ramzan or “Eid” on the same day, the usual average in Pakistan being about three eids per Ramzan per district. Why does the Roohate Hillal commitee possess only men in the last years of their age and all wearing thick spectacles anyways? One would think the moon sighters would be 6×6 and fresh as the wind. Add to this the fact that shopping plazas and roads are literally lifeless all over the land and the usual frenzy and ronaq of Ramzan is nowhere to be seen, and we have a recipe for a totally lack luster Eid.
Basically my dear Aagahians its all got to do with Inflation, because if an average Joe has to pay around 120 rs for a dozen samoosas to fry his insides at iftari, or another 86 rs per liter just to get to the shopping area and back, he will certainly not feel like tripping the light fantastic or celebrating anything in his life much the less Eid. Inflation used to be around 11% a year in the Land of the pure but after the entry of our “grand democratic alliance” has shot up to 27% in the last 2 months alone. Yes i know it sounds unbelievable but most folks are now dependent on utility stores to subsidize their iftari if they are to have anything to eat that particular day.
Can we do something to control Inflation? Can the government introduce packages that actually reach the common man? Will we be looting each other instead of wishing hearty “Eid Mubaraks†no one knows anymore. What we can do though is hope for better days and try to enjoy the simpler aspects of the Eid to come. Remember happiness does not come at a price, Eid Mubarak!!
Published in Aagahi Oct Eid Issue 08