Eid bloopers

Eid is the most awaited occasion for people old and young. This is because Eid is the only time when you get to meet distant relatives, eat away tubs of mithai, get to wear fancy new clothes and earn Eidi as well. It all seems perfect doesn’t it? You couldn’t have been more wrong. Unfortunately, sometimes things just don’t go our way and our plans explode right in our faces. Read on to find out about some interesting Eid disasters.

Artistic disaster

Every year on Eid, all of my extended family gathers at our house. This includes my maternal as well as paternal relatives. Needless to say, the occasion is always a fancy one and my mother makes an extra effort to make sure the house looks spectacular and the food tastes delicious. After all, you know how gossipy relatives can be and any mishap can be discussed amongst people for the years to come. Last year, my uncle came over early with his children because he needed to discuss important matters with my mom. They both stood in the kitchen while my uncle’s five-year-old and seven-year-old kids ran around the house creating a ruckus. To avoid the screaming I went to my room and left the kids on their own. Oh, what a bad decision that was. When the guests came and we turned the lights on of the drawing room, we saw that the carpet was flooded with blue, black and red ink. There were also footsteps of the ink on the sofas and the marble floor. Apparently, the kids had decided to make use of my dad’s ink bottles and had painted the drawing room. My parents were utterly embarrassed and my mom scolded me for days after the incident for not watching over those brats!

Aliya

A snowy Eid

I was born and raised in Pakistan but settled in Canada at the age of 23. My husband and I along with my three sons live in a different town, while my in-laws are settled in the country side area. Every year we make a short road trip to their place on Eid since they are the only family we have in Canada and my children just love their huge house and all the pets they have. However, last Eid turned out to be a huge disaster because it started snowing while we were on the way to our in-laws. At that time my sons were aged eight, five and three, and needless to say, they were pretty loud and impatient. We didn’t realize how bad the weather had gotten till our car got stuck about an hour away from the in-law’s place in the middle of nowhere. It was cold so we couldn’t leave the car either. I sat in the car with my children screaming, fighting and crying while my husband stood outside digging through the snow in an attempt to free the car. My three-year-old had to go to the toilet and ended up pooping on me and ruined my Eid clothes. Took us about forty minutes to dig our way out and I had to sit in the car with poop on me for another 20 minutes till we could find a petrol pump with a toilet. Hungry, cold, exhausted we reached the in-laws in double the time required and all I did when I got there was rush to the toilet and cry. What made me feel worse was that Eid had been ruined for my poor kids too. I will never go on a road trip again without a full analysis of the weather.

Fariha

The cooking dilemma

This incident happened last year and was the most tragic thing I have ever undergone on an occasion as special as Eid. My 28th birthday was a few days before Eid and I had made a resolution to help my mom host an Eid dinner. I had planned to cook a few dishes and show off my kitchen skills to the family and friends. Long story short, my mother caught a flu and fever a day before the occasion and could not even stand, let alone cook. So I assured her that I would handle everything by myself and she had nothing to worry about. Logically, I should have cooked a few dishes and ordered some from outside but my arrogance got in the way and I assumed I could manage everything. As Eid day arrived, my day started with a disaster as I had to run here and there around the kitchen to cook. It literally took me half the day to cook the meals since I was alone and the maid had taken an off. By the end of it I was exhausted and drained but still needed to make desserts. So I started off with the sweet delights and that’s when things really started going wrong. In my first batch of brownies I was distracted and ended up using salt instead of sugar. The cake I made got burnt and the halwa I made fell on the floor as I tripped on some water. I finally got done with everything by eight but I only had time to change my clothes. So I ended up greeting the guests with new clothes but zero makeup. Everyone loved the food but only I sat at the table staring at the food that had destroyed my Eid day fun. Never am I cooking alone on such a huge occasion ever again.

Sana

Furry friends turn enemy

Two years back when I came on vacations from Australia, my sisters and I decided to cook dinner for the family on Eid. Everything went great because we are pros at cooking and just took us a few hours to get the work done. We had amazing desserts, pizza, karhai, pasta and what not and just couldn’t wait for everyone to get their hands on the delicious food. Little did we know, one mistake could ruin it all! And the mistake I’m talking about is leaving the door of the drawing room open! We set the food on the table and went up to the room to sit in the AC for a bit. During those ten minutes our poodle dog and our cat saw a good opportunity to feed their bellies and headed to the table. As we came down after hearing the doorbell ring, we came across the sight of our dog standing on top of the cake while he chewed on a piece of fried chicken, while my cat sat there licking the pizza. They had sniffed and stepped over everything on the table. Basically the whole meal was ruined and we ended up ordering from outside. The entire night everyone from the family cracked jokes about how our pets had the best Eid buffet ever.

Somaiya

Newly weds

I was engaged to my husband for three years before we tied the knot. But those three years were by far the most glorious years of my life. Yes, we have heard elder women warn us how things change after marriage and they couldn’t have been more right. Before marriage, my mother in-law would spoil me so much with gifts before Eid as well as on Eid. She would take me shopping and buy me a beautiful designer dress along with shoes, bangles, jewellery etc. Then they would arrive at our house on Eid day with a basket of chocolates and fruits as well as a dozen more gifts including bags, shoes, clothes and money. One time I was even gifted a new smart phone. So anyway, since I was spoiled so much for three years, I expected I would be pampered on my first Eid by my in-laws too. How wrong I was! My mother in-law woke me up early morning and asked me to help her in the kitchen. We spent the whole day slaving away cooking and spent the other half of the day serving that food. I waited for my gifts till night but got none. My in-laws just gave me some money as Eidi but basically didn’t pay much attention to my existence. I cried so much when I went back to the room because I was utterly disappointed. I don’t blame them, I was just expecting too much and didn’t think my first Eid there would be spent in the kitchen only.

Sadia