(Compiled by Faiz Rohani & Maheen Sabeeh)

Faryal Mehmood

My favorite Eid memory is when all my dadhyal got together and gave me a lot of eidi! That was the only time I had reasonable eidi!

Javed Sheikh

I spend Eid with my family, and this one Eid I was in London and offered my Eid prayers in Regent Park, which was a very lively event, full of people, but when I came back to my apartment, I felt very lonely. I didn’t have my family, friends, or even the traditional Eid foods to keep me company. It was a sad Eid, and I found myself drinking coffee with croissants, and just realizing how much Eid is about being with my family and friends, and of course, the food.

Mira Sethi

My favorite Eid memory is gathering at my dadi’s house with my cousins. Getting crisp ten-or 50-rupee notes and eating sawayaan.

Frieha Altaf

When we were kids – and there were so many of us! – we all visited my mother’s mamu every Eid, and his thing was to give us all 50 rupees. This was our one annual event where we all gathered together to celebrate.

Shuja Asad

One of my most cherished memories is when my mother and I would wake up early on Eid morning to prepare traditional sweet dishes like sheer khurma and phirni. We would spend the entire day visiting friends and family, enjoying the delicious food, and exchanging Eid greetings. It was a time of great happiness and warmth.

Danial Afzal

I have fond memories of celebrating Eid with my school friends. We all dressed up in new clothes and went to the local park to play games and have a picnic. It was a day filled with laughter and joy, and we made memories that have stayed with us through the years.

Ayesha Omar

One of my favorite memories is from when I was a kid, and my phoppo was alive, we used to spend Eid at their place, and one Eid I made biryani and korma myself. I think I was about 12 years old, and I was a food and nutrition student. So I learned how to cook too. But another really, really favorite Eid memory of mine is when my mother came to Karachi for her first Eid at my apartment. So, I had done up my drawing room, and I was seeing her after four or five months, and it was lovely.

Rabab Hashim

My favourite Eid memory is when back in college we would step out at night for mehndi on chand raat with friends, stay out super late, always get bangles the very last minute. The festive vibe felt so great on chand raat and the anticipation for the next day was so exciting. We did it as a ritual each year back in college and it feels so nostalgic now!

Vardah Aziz

My favourite Eid memory is definitely from my childhood days. From standing in long queues for mehndi at Aashiana to waking up with the design imprinted on either of my cheeks every year. And just the little joys of collecting eidi and walking to the nearest super store with my cousins all dressed up to treat ourselves, then just have our own little party in the garden and act like grownups because that’s the only time we were allowed to walk to the supermarket alone!

Kiran Malik

Eid memories are always beautiful, but one of my most precious memories was when my nieces came to see me in Dubai for Eid. I haven’t been in Pakistan for 20 years, and haven’t had my family around me, so this was special. Last year was one of those moments that all of us were together. I made desi khana, haleem, pulao and the desi element was well-represented on the table. We played games, we chatted. We cried; we remembered our loved ones who are not with us anymore. And for me, it was very important that my daughter Emaan got to spend that time with her cousins.

Gohar Rasheed

Growing up all my khalas lived around my nani’s house, and so on Eid morning all the men would go and pray together, and then we gathered at nani’s for Eid breakfast. Now that nani isn’t there anymore, I miss those times, and Eid just doesn’t feel the same.

Atabik Mohsin

My favourite Eid memory would be from 2018 where I spent Eid with my entire extended family after a long time as opposed to having spent Eid in another city for 15 years. It was wholesome to see everyone under the same roof, recalling all the beautiful times we’d spent together.

Zoha Rahman

The best part about Eid for me was the lead up to it; the chand raat, mehndi and last-minute shopping for bangles, the running around ironing clothes for the next day and trying to match your cousin’s outfits. And then, of course, the delicious smell of sawwayan to wake you up in the morning!

Yasra Rizvi

My favorite Eid memory is from when I was a child and my entire family would gather at my grandmother’s house. We would spend the day playing games, sharing stories, and enjoying delicious food. It was always so much fun and filled with love and laughter.

Mani

I was in India and I said my Eid namaz in Delhi, and then we went to see the cricket team, Younis Khan was the Vice Captain at the time, and it was just fun because as a Pakistani to offer Eid prayer in India is not something that happens every day.

Shafaat Ali

Eid day wasn’t really exciting, but Eid evening, when everyone would leave, it would just be us and our eidi. All us cousins would sit and contemplate deeply how to spend our newfound wealth, or to double it. While we would be picking between video games or toys, ammi would walk in and ask me to hand over the eidi for safekeeping, which was code for: you’re never seeing it again.

Adnan Jaffar

There are so many happy memories associated with Eid. Growing up as a child in a joint family system, with the houses of my uncles and aunts wall-to-wall was special. After saying prayers, we would go to the houses to collect eidi, sampling food, and then adding it all up and then deciding what to get. Of course, in those days our neighborhood would be visited by a thela wala, and we would get Slims chips, and gola gandas. Years have gone by and now that I have kids, the first Eid when my baby was 10 months old was very, very special. Because the fact that for the first time going out and buying clothes for your little ones, especially the girl getting bangles and getting mehndi hands and those cute shararas and ghararas, and my son in the kurta pyjama. And now as they grow up, watching them collecting eidi and sampling food, and having the same excitement on their faces we must have – everything has come full circle, and it is just so wholesome to see.