The color of Eid changes with time in women's lives. The pure joy of childhood, the struggle to adapt to a new environment after marriage, and the responsibilities of the family in adulthood—all in all, the experience of Eid becomes different. This change in Eid celebration is also evident in the life of fiction writer Nasima Anis.
Nasima Anis got married at the age of eighteen. He said, “I grew up in a completely different environment and fell into a completely different environment. After marriage, I started trying to adapt myself to the new environment.”
Before her marriage, her Eid was the lively festival of Dhaka's colony life. The memory of that Eid of the 1970s is still vivid for him.
“It was pure joy to show everyone in new clothes on Eid. Walking around with peers, laughing—everything was so familiar and familiar,” recalls Nasima Anis. But after marriage that known world changed. Raised in Dhaka, Nasima Anis's family started in Chittagong. And I had to go to my in-laws Meherpur for Eid.
Talking about her in-laws' first Eid, she said, “The whole day was very sad. There were many people in the house, many guests, many arrangements. But I was alone.” There was no electricity in that village house. New people around, new relationships, new rules. Although everyone in the in-laws tried to keep him well, it was not easy for him to leave the familiar surroundings and celebrate Eid in an unfamiliar place. “Going to a village outside the colony to celebrate Eid—the experience was heartbreaking,” said Nasima Anis.
In 43 years of family life, Nasima Anis' Eid has changed more. Now Eid means joy to him as well as numerous responsibilities. He said, “From the experience of celebrating Eid in my family, husbands have no role in housework. What will be cooked, entertaining guests, who likes what – I am responsible for everything.”
The busyness of cleaning the house starts a few days before Eid. Washing the curtains, changing the bed sheets, cleaning the sofa covers—all women are in a rush to make everything perfect. After that, the work of cooking and entertaining guests starts from the dawn of Eid day. “On the day of Eid, there is no helper. As a result, Eid is a hassle. Guests have to be entertained, and when they leave, everything has to be arranged again. However, on this occasion, many people meet and talk, so when Eid comes, there is joy in the mind. There is also physical pain.”
Nirvana's youthful joy never comes back. There is no way to return to one's own home of the past. Opposite to that house, women have another house, a house, a family. The women of this society learn to find joy in managing all these.
As Nasima Anis used to say, “One time there is no choice but to accept. Even though there is pain, there is joy in it.'' Eid means many activities, one day the rhythm of this activity falls.
Nasima Anis said, “A little sick this time. The work assistants have gone on vacation as usual. I left the beef like that. If there was another time, I would have cooked various dishes, I could not do anything.'' Yet Eid comes, Eid goes.
