Meri Chaand Kahani ---------------------------- This is a typical summer day, children have their summer holidays, they watch TV for the most part of the day, play with toys and on continues insistence of their Mama, some school homework will get done in the evening. Subha, my daughter, turning ten in October, lays on the couch next to mine, watching Oggy the Cockroach on Cartoon Network, my comfortable grey couch is where I sit facing the flat screen wall mount TV in the lounge. Sila, 6 years younger to her older sister, is sitting next to her on the same couch, she is a joyous child who would do everything that her older sister would do. Today, however, will be different from rest of the days, it is the day before Eid, the Chaand Raat, last day of Ramzan, the Muslim month of prayers and fasting, today there will be a lot more festivity and preparations leading up to the Eid day. This is also the hottest time of the year in Lahore, temperature goes as high as 49 degree centigrade in May, Monsoon rains arrive late here, passing through entire of India, travelling from East to West, and reaches Lahore in middle of July, Monsoon rains reduce temperature by few points but increase humidity by many points, humidity in air has gone as high as eighty percent in last few days, this would make all of us feel very hot and sweaty, yet the cool air being thrown gently from the air conditioner mounted above the kitchen door is maintaining a perfect cool and dry in the lounge. Later in the day preparations for the Eid will start, girls will have Hina patterns drawn on their hands, it is a centuries old tradition to draw Hina patterns on hands to celebrate joyous occasions like weddings and Eids, this tradition will relive in our lounge once again on this Chaand Raat. After putting Hina on girls, Mama will get clothes ready for tomorrow, and then we will prepare food items to entertain guests for the Eid day, it is another century old tradition to visit friends and relatives on Eid. The door bell rings! A wooden carton of mangoes has just arrived at our door, air in the lounge is now filled with sweet aroma of Chaunsa, the sweetest of all mangoes, the king of fruits has just been brought to our home, and the smell is tempting all to have a delicious treat. Beside Eid and school holidays, summer is also the time for eating mangoes, hot and humid weather that is quite uncomforting for humans is most suitable for the growth and nourishment of mangoes, making them sweeter and juicier. All of the ingredients combined, the mangoes, the Eid and the school holidays, this is the sweetest time of the year for children. Mango is known for its delicacy, but watching my girls eat Chaunsa is not at all a delicate site, they grab the slices Mama has cut for them in their small fingers, bite the chunks off from the peal, suck the pulp from the stones, not only that their hands and mouth are completely messed, but their faces, clothes and the couch is getting share of pulp pasted on it. Food stains on furniture is something that we avoid for as much as we can but we have also settled to live with some stains, we wipe them off every now and then but still see furniture get new stains with every meal that the girls have on it. The dining room does not has an air conditioner, hence the dining table is only used when temperature of Lahore is not this hot, the wall mounted flat screen is also an equal culprit for our habit of eating in the lounge for the entertainment that it offers through days and nights, Oggy the Cockroach takes maximum air space on our TV. The girls have ate the king of fruits, they now sit around Mama on the carpet to get Hina skillfully drawn on the palms and fingers, both at front and back of their hands, Mama is making flowers with petals, curvy stems with leaves and some lines which appear as Mughal art for what I understand of design, which of course is very little. It will take over an hour for Mama to get Hina pasted on all four hands from a cone like tube, she squish the tube from top to get Hina out from a needle like pointed end, gently making patterns on the soft hands of the girls. They will wait for another hour for the paste to dry and then wash dry flakes off, leaving a beautiful brown color design of Hina imprinted on their hands, these patterns will stay imprinted for few more days before finally fading off, the color of Hina will get lighter shade of orange with every passing day. This is Meri Chaand Kahani, it does not have drama or suspense, it is simple and beautiful story of our life. Special thanks to “Mama”, Kanwal Babar Malik Nousherwani, for two beautiful girls, and Meri Chaand Kahani. Eid Mubarik to All
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:34:25 +0000
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