A multicultural Eid

By UZMA BEG

Eid-ul-Fitar is the biggest occasion to celebrate for all Muslims. It’s a celebration truly well deserved after a full month of fasting (abstaining from food and drinks from just before dawn to dusk) in Ramadan.

I fasted as well, doing my regular countdown to Eid, excited about sharing this day with all my fellow Muslims….a day where we finally put our differences aside and just celebrate, all of us on the same day, united for once. But it wasn’t to be. On the last day of Ramadan I found out that half of the community in Australia was already celebrating Eid while I fasted – as the religious leaders for some Muslim communities decided late on Monday evening to declare Eid on Tuesday!

I ended up celebrating Eid the next day, but it broke my heart. It would’ve been wonderful for Muslims to be one on our special day! My sense of sadness was shared on Indian Link Radio during my show by Mr. Mohammed Ali, an active member of the Muslim community in Canberra.

But the disappointment didn’t last long. I went into big time celebration mode on Wednesday!

The highlight of my day was the Eid party thrown by my Christian friend Sandra Prakash, who didn’t want me to be alone on Eid. Sandra and her brother Tony set the stage for a beautiful party at Sandra’s house.

We brought a dish each and because we were such a diverse group coming together, the culinary outcome was nothing short of sensational!

I took with me Kharray Masaalay ki Murghi, a speciality from Lahore. Sandra who is originally from Karachi had prepared the most amazing Band Kabab – it had this wonderful smoky-charcoal flavour which brought the sub-continent right into her dining room. That girl could easily earn a living from just that dish! Our friends Nitu and Praneet who are originally from Delhi brought a spinach, mushroom, cheese pulao that left us wanting more! My dear friend Nisreen also originally from Karachi, contributed a sensational palak paneer which would give any Indian palak paneer a run for it’s money! Ahmad Afzal and his Chinese wife Rozie decided to revert to good oldfashioned healthy Aussie values with a huge fresh salad instead of contributing to our rising cholesterol.

I ate non-stop throughout the party –and was still going, while the others eyed dessert!

Our gorgeous Turkish friends Rana and Ahmat and their sons added that sense of diversity.

My own Turkish friend Ege Suna looked stunning – I kept referring to her as Turkish Delight all night!

Priti from Maharashtra walked in very late and very worked up. Apparently the only thing that got her away from her home on such a busy day was the spirit of Eid! A devout Hindu, she interrupted her own frenzied preparations for Ganesh Chaturthi, which is such an important occasion in Maharashtra. She had been making prasad all day for the auspicious occasion of the arrival of the deity of Lord Ganesha at her home. Apparently she had been trying for many years to bring Him home, but it wasn’t happening!

“Uzma, you don’t know how hard it is!” an overwhelmed, flustered and excited Priti told me. “It’s not easy...He doesn’t come whenever you want... only when the time is right and the time is finally right, and I can’t believe it’s actually happening!”

She had a big pooja planned at her house on Ganesh Chaturthi which was the day after Eid. I felt honoured that she had left her kids in the care of a friend and put all her chores on hold just to celebrate Eid with us!

We were all a very diverse group with different backgrounds, cultures and religions yet it seemed to work beautifully... we were a really merry bunch that enjoyed everything we had in common with each other and that seemed to take precedence over all our differences that night! Had I been back home for Eid it would’ve been very different indeed. The atmosphere right from Chand Raat to the third day of Eid would be very different! I miss the excitement of Chand Raat, the henna tradition, the adrenalin rush of whether the tailor’s finally come through with completing your outfit or not, the eating out on Chand Raat, the late nights, the rude 6 am awakening on Eid, the hustle bustle of domestic help running helterskelter to get things done, the mountain of Eid clothes being ironed, the odd scream “Hai bijli chali gayee!”, the panic, the men all dressed up in traditional shalwar kameez rushing off to get to the mosque in time for Eid prayers, the women praying at home then taking ages to get ready, the shouts, the screams “Jaldi karo, the guys will be here any minute!” I loved the Eid breakfast we had together - sawayyan and halva puri - yumm! My favourite thing would be collecting Eidy… not so much now because I have to give it... but back when we were single we couldn’t contain ourselves from staring the elders down into reaching for their wallets! I miss those long family Eid lunches where the spread was fit for a king, the gorgeous outfits and stunning jewellery that would look so OTT in daytime! I miss “Tarru”, the second day of Eid, which brought with it the excitement of visiting everyone and wearing the second new outfit, and I miss the understated “Marru”, the third day of Eid, when it’s all officially over! I distinctly remember the huge sense of loss that would overcome me on Marru while I made the most of it by flaunting my third outfit to all and sundry, knowing in my heart that it’ll be business as usual the next day!

I saw the love between Hindus and Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, and I saw us for what we really arehuman beings!

Oh, Eid back home…! It makes me nostalgic and homesick to think about it – yes, I definitely miss it. But what I experienced here was priceless! I saw four different religions, countries and cultures come together to make Eid as special as it could ever be! I saw the love between Hindus and Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, and I saw us for what we really are - human beings! Simple, loving, caring, accepting, human beings. We all have the same goals, wants, needs, desires so why then do some choose to focus on superficial differences rather than our universal humanity?

We brought a dish each and because we were such a diverse group coming together, the culinary outcome was nothing short of sensational!

Multiculturalism is the new face of the world and we are thriving in it!

It’s just a matter of time until everyone recognizes what I felt so deeply! Eid Mubarak…and Ganpati Bappa Morya…!