Eid shopping under way

PANAJI: “My home is scrubbed clean and anything new that has to be done for the house — drapes, furniture, paintings — is done around Eid,” says Bambolim-based Afreen Razak, 19. Her shopping’s not restricted to Goa though. “I get my clothes stitched for Eid in Goa, but I buy the material from Mumbai almost every year.”On Eid-ul-Fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end of the month of Ramzan, gifts and money are distributed among family and friends and of course, food is prepared which is also part of the thanksgiving, Razak explains.Eid is akin to Diwali for Hindus and Christmas forCatholics, says Nihal Sayed, 23. “We head to the market for mutton, capsare available outside the mosque and sherwanis are either stitched orbought,” says the IT engineer from Panaji. The family also prepares forEid by repainting the home. Shaikh Bashir Ahmed, president of the All Goa MuslimJamaat Association, says there won’t be anything organized this year bythe association.Families, however, will keep the festive spiritalive by going to the masjid for prayers and through the preparation of thespecial Eid dish sheer khurma (sweet vermicelli with dry fruits) which is servedto neighbours and guests. Apart from the new clothes and feasting, many alsogive clothes, food and books to orphanages and the poor on Eid.