Munshi Premschand isan Indian author who wrote very good urdu stories and many of these stories reflected the lives of middle class Muslims in villages. On this Eid let me share a fine story narrated by him. A young orphan stayed with his grandmother who herself was a widow. The lonely old lady had only his grandson as a companion. Inspite of weakness she worked to run their lives.
Then came Eid, and the young boy got some money from his beloved grandmother to celebrate Eid. The boy went to the fair with his friends. The group of young boys enjoyed roller coaster drives and other things. But this little heart kept on avoiding all the fun and just watched his friends having fun. The boys bought sweets and toys and enjoyed but this little boy kept on seeing his friends and kept himself out of it.

In the evening when he returned home his grandma asked,” My son how was the Eid? Did you enjoy ? “
Yes”, said the child.



What did you buy ? Where are your toys? Was the money enough? The grandma showered a set of questions on the boy.

The boy kept quite and then gently pulled out a set of tongs and placed it on his grandma’s hand. Quite shocked, the grandma asked, “What is this ?”

The young boy replied,”Grandma! I have seen that your hands get burnt when you make chapatis for me on the pan, so I bought this for you… A lovely story, a wonderful message…

Today my Imam of Eid said the same thing about the spirit of Eid. He said,” Eid is not just wearing new clothes and tasting sweet dishes and spending money lavishly. Eid is to celebrate those great qualities of sabr and generosity that we had practiced through out the month.”

Eid cannot be celebrated alone in malls and expensive restaurants and parks, but Eid is to share joy and wealth with the needy. How many of us really visit our sick relatives on the day of Eid? or a sick neighbour? Thstory narrated reminds me that Eid is a festival of collective joy and not jsut individual ccelebration. Next Eid when you shop for your self buy some extra for your servant or the children of your poor neighbour too and then see how tasteful will be your sheer khurma..