KARACHI: With the wiser shoppers having done most of their shopping way ahead of Eid and even before Ramazan, last minute Eid shopping mostly involved tying up the loose ends such as getting matching or contrasting accessories, footwear, bags, jewellery, etc.

Unlike past two years when cities were under lockdowns and commercial and business centres closed way too early in the evening to follow Covid-19 safety guidelines, this year markets all across the city remained open till late in night and at some place till Sehri.

Markets and malls go from vacant soon after Iftar to fish market chaotic within just half an hour. And that’s when push comes to shove.

“Please can you deal with my stuff first?” You always hear this line from somewhere behind you in every other clothing shop, dupatta shop, bangles shop, tailors, beauty salon.

This year city markets stay open till Sehri as Covid lockdown days are over

And when they notice a glare from you or anyone else next to them who had been waiting patiently, and who got there first, you get to hear the standard excuses: “Sorry, I have a sick child in the car” or “I’ve parked at no parking”, etc.

God help them if they are telling the truth about leaving their car in a no parking zone. Traffic police around this time misses nothing, not even a battered old Suzuki FX.

Pickpockets also are known to miss nothing around this time and the busiest of shopping centres are swarming with both female as well as male pickpockets. This year they were also happy to know that no pocket, purse or wallet would be light or empty with everyone having just received their salaries, too, before getting to the markets.

There was a race against time in finding what you are still lacking in your Eid outfits or your children’s Eid outfits at the last instant. And in that race, sometimes there is also a chance of misplacing the kid whose shopping you are doing. So the parents really needed to be more careful there.

There were also some mother’s who remembered that they also wanted henna application upon spotting girls who were good at henna art sitting outside the shopping centres and malls. That’s where most of them also misplaced their children along with some shopping bags.

If looking for good deals and bargains for Eid, just don’t bother. There are Eid discounts on things that have nothing much to do with Eid. Like servicing your car, getting your old mattress changed with a new one with discount, etc, etc.

When Dawn asked some of the shoppers if they thought about going easy on the shopping since inflation is on a rise and everything is so expensive, they all said that it wasn’t as if everything was expensive.

“These days in the shopping centres and malls you can find anything to suit your pocket. You only need the patience to look,” said one shopper.

“You get good quality things even at Sunday market. And these things such as clothes, bags, shoes and bangles are not heavy on the pocket. So just like Eid is for everyone, shopping too is for everyone and every pocket,” said another shopper.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2022