For ten-year-old Rida, Eid is all fun and excitement. New clothes, new shoes, and new bangles... the images bring stars to her eyes. “When I was young, I wore frocks but now Amma makes shalwar kameez with matching dupatta for me. I write down all the things that I have to wear on Eid day, in case I miss out on anything.”

“And yes, loads and loads of Eidi”, Iqra, six, reminds her elder sister that she has missed out on such an important item. “We go to our Nani's house and all our uncles give us money. Last Eid both of us had collected as much as Rs800,” her face brightens with joy at the mere mention of the amount.

Eid has all the good food... Biryani, Pulao, Korma, Sawayyan and Sheer Khorma. “All the cooking is done by Ammi as I am too tired to help on Eid day,” says Najma, who works at a beauty salon in Islamabad.

“We are loaded with work during the last week of Ramazan till Chand Raat. Everyday I reach home late from the parlour but Chand Raat is the busiest of all. Women keep postponing their grooming till the last day. Girls keep pouring in for mehndi and one can't say “No”. We close in the wee hours of the morning.

But Najma doesn't mind the labour. In fact, she enjoys it and over the years has become so used to it that she can't imagine sitting idle during this time. “I feel very involved in the festivity and feel I have made some contribution.”

The seven nights of hard work also earn her a generous tip, which Najma gives to her widow mother for the other five siblings. She doesn't make new clothes for herself but happily re-works the ones given by some generous clients. It really rejuvenates her. “They are good, expensive clothes and in the latest style. Why would I mind? When I wear them everyone asks me where I got them stitched,” she replies happily.

All this certainly reminds me of my childhood days; all the fun and the countdown to Eid. My younger sister Shumaila, who was too young to have a concept of numbers, would countdown to Eid by asking my parents “How many times will we sleep and then get up until it's Eid?”

Days before Eid, I myself would lay out all the things I had to wear on the big day, just like Rida, so that I didn't miss anything. My utmost effort was to hide my Eid dress from friends and cousins.

In spite of the economic recession, unemployment, skyrocketing inflation — all that has greatly affected purchasing power — I envy Rida, Iqra and Najma. I ask my mother  as to why Eid still has its charm amongst the less privileged while the excitement of buying new clothes and shoes seems to have fizzled out amongst the very rich. Why aren't the charisma and the pleasure the same as they were when we were young? Is it just because of age, have we grown old, or is there something more to it?

“Abundance of anything,” my mother says “decreases its value. In the past, people, no matter what economic class they belonged to, never made too many clothes, bought so many shoes or had such gourmet food on a regular basis. The idea of having new clothes was mostly associated with Eid and weddings.

“Today, we buy whatever we like, whenever we like. It is rarely associated with any event. Pulao and Biryani are no more dawat ka khana, but everyday food. We have lost the patience to wait or resist a temptation. Shopping today is a not occasion-based, it is mainly impulsive. With all this the old Eid charm has faded.”

As, Rida and Iqra both wait for their father to take them shopping, Mohammad Javed, a driver, is still trying to figure out how to arrange money for the extra expenses, hoping to get the next month's salary in advance. A man of honour, he tries to provide the best for his children within his means. “Right now it is a struggle for us just to keep the stove burning and arrange Iftari. New clothes and shoes for my kids are something I have to work on,” says Javed.