The crowd was buzzing. When I say buzzing, yes I mean it.
I sat in the middle of that vibrant, happily buzzing crowd, alone.
A crowd consisting of small kids, school going ones, girls, ladies, old ones.
A crowd consisting of Black, White, Arab, Asian, African.
I was observing the Eid in US with curiosity and amusement. Last time, I couldn’t observe much of it, because I had just landed in US then. I had a lot of other things to learn and worry about.
Contrasting with the celebrations in India, the first thing you notice is the way people dress for the occasion. Most of the men choose to come in black suites, neat and trim like they go for a wedding party. Even women – no black purdah, no jeans-t shirts, no sports shoes or sandals, fully clad, head covered with a scarf. I saw it with surprise, how much they have adopted the idea of Eid celebration to their American way of life, that too without loosing the essence of the religion in between, as if going to a party hosted by God!!
In Kerala, we have Ifthars associated with mosques, but never a Eid party (atleast, I haven’t heard of). We go home after the prayer, have food and visit all friends and relatives. Here, after the prayer, there is a breakfast party for Eid. It is a potluck, where each family is supposed to bring food for 10 people. There were ladies who brought sweets for all who present ( count a 100 ladies + their men + kids!! ). Imagine a mix of delicacies of middle-east origin, and typical US sweets.
