PESHAWAR: Eid festival every year brings friends and relatives together to share their woes, memories and pleasantries over a joint grand meal in a village hujra in most parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Most people sink their differences on the propitious occasion by visiting their relatives and friends and exchanged Eid greetings.

House wives remain busy in preparing variety of dishes with obviously comprised meat as major ingredient owing to slaughter of sacrificial animals.

Men, especially youth, get engaged to cook their favourite dishes and yet groups of friends plan to enjoy trips to scenic spots together where they cook meat dishes along with mangoes or some other fruit variety.

Elders on such happy occasions come together to resolve internecine disputes and also participate in happy rituals mostly arranged during the Eid holidays.

Village meetings are held to resolve disputes between individuals, groups and even tribes through negotiations and table talks followed by celebrations and exchange of pledges to live like friends in future.

Old women have their own duties.

They most often walk out to look for suitable girls for their young ones because it is considered the right time to choose girls for their sons as they entertain the guests in homes and the old women judge overall personality including attitude, smartness and way of presentation.

Children, who mostly enjoy such happy occasions to the maximum, are allowed to visit village fairs in groups while young boys as said earlier arrange short trips to tourist spots where they together chit chat, prepare delicious meals and also at times enjoy live music as it is often seen that local musicians entertain the occasional visitors with their enchanting folk music.

A marked difference could be seen between rural and urban areas as people from the latter leave for rural areas to celebrate Eid holidays with their dear and near ones and also to refresh their past memoires with their friends and relatives.

Such visits keep people living in the city areas close to their parents, friends and relatives residing in the rural areas and villages.

People in rural areas enjoy sitting around one long table cloth for eating dishes with different tastes and flavours and every single home dweller contributes his dish and thus the tradition of togetherness lives on.

Open spaces including village hujras are fast being devoured by increasing population but in tribal districts and elsewhere across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, people still enjoy Eid pleasantries in their hujras where elders hold jirgas and several cultural events and youngsters arrange live music shows, engage in folk dances and meal parties to welcome friends and guests.

Grand meals, warm greetings and entertaining guests and dine outs are some of the highlights of the Eid festival.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2022