Eid's attraction for non-muslims

these were small things i learnt during ramzan this year.. thought i'd give in the interesting facts..

How Eid attracts non-Muslims

By Uroos Ahmed

KARACHI: Primarily a Muslim festival, Eid is also celebrated by people of the minority religions settled in Karachi. Daily Times takes a look at how Eid beings them together.

“Customers aren’t usually very enthusiastic around Diwali or other Hindu festivals, but during Eid, they make a special effort to include us non-Muslims too by a giving a hefty tip or a simple Eid greeting,” said Geeta, who works for a local beauty salon. “Perhaps the reason for this is people are mostly very generous during Eid and want to show off their religious and cultural values.”

According to a small and random survey, most Eid melas, which usually crop up in the last ten days of Ramadan, are set up by non-Muslims and even though shopkeepers in shopping centers such as Clifton’s Uzma Market or Gulf Way Shopping Mall do experience an increase in sales, what causes real traffic blockage on the roads are these stalls. Seven stalls of bangles and henna have been set up around Agha’s Supermarket, six of which have been set up by non-Muslims.

“I have been setting up a stall for the past 17 years at Meena Bazaar and every year, we have a very good turnout,” said Mona, who owns a beauty parlor in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. “Eight years back, I started setting up two stalls, one at Meena Bazaar and one at Uzma.” Mona is in her early forties and says she has been a part of the Eid festivities for as long as she can remember.

Rita, a very old employee of Mona’s parlor, said the unique selling point of their stalls were simple things such as elastic and safety pins that people usually put off till the last minute and then end up forgetting about. “Although a few dozen girls are always looking for the perfect shade of nail polish to go with their Eid clothes, the fact is that these make-up products don’t sell as well as other small accessories,” she said.

Girls at another henna stall said that business was not all that well but they were expecting it to pick up by the 27th of Ramadan. “That’s when most families start focusing on Eid shopping and can’t wait around for cheaper stalls,” said Jagdish, who by profession is a dog trainer but sets up a stall for his wife and sisters who work for beauty parlors. “For the lower class, this is not just a money-making scheme but a necessity to provide for our families in these times of high inflation.”

Prices of everything from food to clothes sky rocket during Ramadan. So is it really unfair to pay 100 rupees for henna on a one palm and 200 to 500 rupees for the perfect matching bangles?

Many shoppers felt that it was unfair that such unreasonable prices were charged for small luxuries around Eid. “It is true that our prices are not very reasonable but it has always been so. This just shows that the general public does not learn and keeps putting off shopping till the last minute which is a good time for shopkeepers to make some extra money,” points out Jagdish.