A time for family and friends

l Festive feast

After Ramzan, the Muslim community in the city is all excited to celebrate ‘Eid al-Adha’ or ‘Bakrid’ today. The festival celebrates the spirit of sacrifice among the members of the community.

It is an occasion to help their less fortunate brethren and ensure that the spirit of sacrifice pervades everywhere. The sacrificed meat is distributed among family and friends and a large share is given to the poor and needy.

Wearing new clothes is a must and so is the tradition of younger ones receiving money from elders. Although the main feast for the day comprises ‘mutton biryani’ and other mutton-based specialities, several households have started adding new dishes to the menu to spice up the spread.

Bengaluru-based Surumy and her husband Dr Rehan Sayeed head to her actor-father Mamootty’s home in Cochin or Rehan’s parents’ house in Chennai. “The festival is always about being with family. Thanks to our hectic work schedules, we rarely get a chance to spend time together and festivals are an excuse for everybody to meet. I look forward to it,” says Surumy. She assists her mother in preparing the ‘mutton biryani’ and other delicacies. She adds that Rehan is a good cook. “In fact, I learnt cooking from him,” she says with a laugh.

Rehan says on the day of the festival, he has friends and relatives over for lunch. “The men in the family go together to the ‘Idgah’ to pray and after a round of ‘namaaz’, we return home to have a sumptuous breakfast, usually with just the family,” he says. He recalls that when he was in college, he would make biryani and invite more than a dozen friends for lunch. The spread also includes sweets and a few dishes in chicken. “The tradition still continues but the numbers have reduced. I used to work for Apollo Hospitals in Chennai and every ‘Bakrid’, I would have boxes of biryani sent out to my entire team at the hospital,” he says.

The festival is also a time when non-Muslims look forward to getting a taste of the traditional biryani. Aquib Faraaz’s non-Muslim friends never miss to partake of the biryani made in his house. “There’s a lot of respect and honour attached to the festival. Three-fourth of the meat is distributed among relatives, friends and the needy while one-fourth is kept for the family,” says Aquib. His sister Dr Arfa Sareen pitches in, “Lunch and dinner are a grand affair in our home. Along with ‘biryani’, we will have roasted lamb, ‘mutton sheek kebab’ and a host of sweets.” Echoing Arfa’s views, IT professional Nazia Syed Mujeeb says the festival is also a time to give up materialistic pleasures.

For Kannada director Imran Sardhariya and his wife Saniya, a designer, it’s a busy ‘Bakrid’. Imran is wrapping up work on his debut directorial project ‘Uppu Huli Kara.’ “It is said that ‘work is worship’. So this festival, both of us are busy with work. After the morning ‘namaaz,’ I will grab some biryani made by my mother and rush to work,” says Imran, who feels being at work is also a celebration of sorts.

Most people hold special memories of celebrating festivals during their childhood and model-turned-actor Zulfi Syed says every ‘Bakrid’ is like a trip down memory lane. “We used to buy four or five sheep at least a month in advance. I would feed them and play with them almost everyday but would feel really miserable when they were sacrificed later. I think all children feel the same way. However, as I grew older, I understood the significance of the festival,” he recollects. Zulfi’s wife Sheena joins his mother in making the traditional ‘mutton biryani’ and dishing out some interesting variations in chicken. Sometimes, the menu is extended to include ‘vegetable kurma and ghee rice’.
   
“We will also have an array of desserts such as ‘Phirni,’ ‘Gulab jamun’ and ‘Kheer’ made from rice.’ I don’t stick to a diet on ‘Bakrid’ and eat to my heart’s content,” says Zulfi.