Day 30: Eid Mubarak!

Wishing you all a wonderful Eid! Hope it was joyous, with family and friends and festivities. Thank you so much for reading along for the past 30 days, and for sharing your traditions, memories, recipes and recollections. YOU all made the blog so much fun to do!Traditionally, our family would celebrate Eid this way: doing mehndi the night before at our friends home, waking up on Eid morning to my mom-in-law’s sheer korma and patties, the dining table laid out with mirror encrusted table mats and our grandparents silver tea set, and overflowing with homemade samosas, shami kebabs, shahi tukra, dahi barra, and moon and star cookies There would be moons and stars hanging on our front door, lights on our deck, and “These are the days of Eid” playing on the Ipod. We would say our prayers with our Sunday School community at a school or clubhouse. Family and friends would come to our house for lunch or dinner, the house brimming with our parents, cousins and kids and joyous mayhem. Or we would visit friend to friend until late into the night, dressed in sequins and sparkles and jingling with chooris.This year, after 30 days of sharing traditions old and new, our Eid was anything but ‘tradiitional’. We are in Carmel, California. Our post-Eid trip got derailed by Arif’s work commitment, which necessitated that he go to Paris earlier than planned. Instead of cancelling the trip we decided to come a couple of days early, so we could still have some family time, especially before Saanya heads off to college.So this year, Eid morning started with yoga surrounded by stunning views of canyon and mountains , orchards and oaks and fields of lavendar. We googled to find a nearby mosque for Eid prayers and found the Monterey Islamic Center, and said our prayers with an eclectic and friendly group of Muslims from Sudan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, in a small house not far from the beach. Eid brunch consisted of crabcakes, meatballs, panninis and omelettes, followed by shopping for Eid presents; later ping pong and s’mores and a bonfire.Perhaps it’s ironic that this year’s Eid was anything but traditional. Perhaps it’s fitting. Traditions are passed down from generations, but memories are created anew, with each family experience that brings joy and comfort and sustenance and happiness. We’ve lived a month full of traditions, and this Eid we created new memories, which I hope will last a lifetime.Day 30, Tradition 30: Preserving traditions, creating memories