For any Muslim society, Eid is a time of huge celebration. It’s not a cultural festival, and has a definite religious background. We celebrate this day as a mark of thanksgiving on having spent a month of fasting, which is a means of developing God consciousness. That is the spirit of this day. But, as happens to all such festivals, culture imparts its own exterior to them. Eid also has a cultural side. In fact all the celebratory glitter comes form the cultural side. From what we eat, to what we wear, from how we meet on this day, to how we get together, from going on holidays to moving for outings, this day is rich in human ways to be happy. It imparts color to life as we break the cycle of routine. We enjoy time with our family, friends, and visit relatives. It bonds us with the people around. It’s this human element that we need the most in the times of stress and anxiety, that has come to define the modern day life. And we all go through the pressures of the modern life. How the routine weighs us down. So this is the time to have some fresh air. But this is not all, and this is not where it ends. As members of a society we can’t afford to ignore our neighbours; we can’t look the other way when we have people who are distressed, for various reasons. A relative whose kids have no new clothes to wear on this day. An ailing person who has none to take care of. And the kind of circumstances we endure, it is even more painful. We have families famished. We have people who lost bread earners at a young age. We have injured, who are crippled for life. So when we celebrate Eid, and that we must, remember that we are living in an atmosphere of overall gloom. This celebration must include the victims of that gloom. And this is for the rich and the well off to come and extend a generous, helping hand.
On this day, Greater Kashmir extends its readers a hearty Eid Mubarak.