It was a crisp start to the beautiful day. I lay there in a pile of mellow cushions, all piled up over my face when the aroma of something ambrosial filled up my nostrils. It was so savoury that it pricked my taste buds and I struggled to get out of the comfort of my duvets.

The beaming sun whacked my face, making me squint like a mouse. I splashed some cold water on my face and perceived that I wasn’t fasting. Wait … does that mean?

“Oh mum!’’ I squealed and ran down the steps, barefoot, all exhilarated and radiant.

I entered the dining room and saw my father and siblings beaming down at their bowls as my mother served something tempting. I hugged my parents and hollered, “Eid Mubarak!” making all of them flinch.

Then I sat down on my usual seat and tucked into my delectable meal, which was of course the traditional sheer khurma. That done, I sauntered to my grandfather’s room, and saw him done with his bowl and skimming through the newspaper.

I greeted him warmly and received my first eidi. I grinned looking at the five hundred rupee, anticipating what I would do with it. I returned to my room, opened my closet and took out the dress I was to wear. It was a glimmering dress, bustling with glee. Then I pulled out my bangles, accessories and shoes. I made myself all ready for the exciting day and ran to my siblings, who were also ready.

We went downstairs to meet our uncle’s family. I was eager to meet my younger cousins and celebrate with them. That was when my sister reminded me to get the gift packages we exchange with our cousins every year.

There was a lot of laughter and noise as everyone greeted each other at my uncle’s place, and then we took many family photos. Later on, we drove to our aunt’s house for lunch. Even though I had just had breakfast, my stomach growled like a ravenous bear at the thought of the scrumptious meals waiting for us. In addition, I was super excited at the thought of filling our wallets with lots of eidi given by our elders. That’s the best part of Eidul Fitr, the joy, love and gifts that we exchange.

When we reached our destination, I jumped out of the car and rang the bell of my aunt’s house. As I waited for the gate to open, I glanced around and saw some unprivileged kids nearby, staring at our costly clothes and then the old outfits they wore. The sadness in their eyes on such a joyous day was a heart-breaking sight.

I felt dismayed. How can we celebrate when a lot of our Muslim brothers and sisters don’t have the means to make this day any different from the rest of their miserable days? How can we commemorate such an auspicious day when for a lot of people, it’s just as bleak as any other day?

I grasped my sister’s hand and approached them. They all started encircling us and I could see my sister was bewildered. I then started to distribute the gifts we were carrying for our cousins among them.

Their smiles made my day brighter than any amount of eidi could have done. I felt proud of myself for having fulfilled the essence of Eidul Fitr — to spread joy.

The kids were delighted to receive the gifts and quickly tore apart the packaging to reveal what was inside. I had selected the presents for each of my cousins with great care, and felt just a little bit guilty that my cousins would not be getting gifts this year, but I brushed the thought aside and cherished the moment.

We went inside my aunt’s house where our other relatives had already arrived for the family get-together. We greeted everyone and sat down for lunch, and relished each and every bite of the tasty meal. After that there was a lot of merry-making — we played games, shared our experiences of Ramazan and were enjoying ourselves when one of my elder cousins asked us: “Why don’t we exchange the Eid gifts now?”

Everyone agreed and I was flustered. Everybody came up with the presents they had bought for others and started to exchange them. I hung my head low in sheer embarrassment. While everybody unboxed theirs, I glumly stared at the gifts given to me.

“You didn’t bring us any gifts?” my cousin questioned.

I felt like tearing up, but controlled myself and I told them the truth. I thought they all would be upset, but they listened calmly.

Once I finished, they all came and wrapped their arms around me gently and appreciated me for my good deed. They loved the way I had shown care for those who really needed it more than them.

“Hay, we don’t need more presents, we already have so much. You did such a great thing by thinking of them and adding some happiness in their lives on Eid. This is a brilliant idea! Why don’t we all take this initiative as well?” one of them suggested.

“Sure!” we all answered in chorus.

Then we took all the gifts that everyone had gotten that day, went to uncle and asked him to accompany us as we went outside. The locality where some labourers and poor people lived was nearby, so we went there and distributed all the gifts exchanged that day to the kids of the area.

I felt triumphant to see all of the poor children cheering with joy as they received the gifts. All of us too became as excited seeing the happiness we had spread and started cheering with them. We then bid goodbye to the children and returned home with smiling faces.

At home we told our parents what we had been up to, and they were very proud of us. Then all of us got extra eidi from the elders for being so generous and considerate of those who are less fortunate than us.

“So, who’s up for ice-cream kids?” my uncle asked and we jumped in exhilaration before heading towards the ice-cream parlour.

That day, we realised how to be truly thankful to Allah for His Blessings, Divine Mercy and Compassion — by sharing those blessing with others. The really essence of Eid is to celebrate it with others, and make it a joyous occasion for everyone.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 22nd, 2023