“My mum makes the best sheer khurma,” says an elated Gauahar Khan, all set to celebrate Eid with sister Nigaar Khan and her close friends. “But this year, mum is in Dubai with my other sisters, so I’ll be making my own biryani and sheer khurma. I hope it turns out to be good,” laughs the actor.
Eid means “everything” to her. “It’s the one day I look forward to because it comes after a whole month of testing yourself whether it comes to food, endurance, how much you can give in charity, how much you can behave yourself and abstain from the wrong things in life, so that you can continue that for the rest of the year. So, it’s actually a celebration of self worth and how much you can do to be a better version of you for the sake of Allah,” says Gauahar.
The excitement in the air around this time every year is very different from anything else. “It’s a good, happy time. We kind of stay awake almost the entire previous night — cooking and applying mehendi. And then early morning, we clean the house, get ready and cook the delicacies,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}The excitement in the air around this time every year is very different from anything else. “It’s a good, happy time. We kind of stay awake almost the entire previous night — cooking and applying mehendi. And then early morning, we clean the house, get ready and cook the delicacies,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}Going down memory lane, back to her childhood, the actor recalls how Eid meant an elaborate celebration because hers was a big family — five siblings and parents. “Buying a new wallet” on this day was a yearly ritual for Gauahar. “I’d only collect my Eidi (gifts/money received as blessings from the elders) in that, so whether it was ₹10 or ₹100 or ₹500, I needed to carry that in nothing but my new wallet.”
Asked how celebrations have changed over the years, the actor says, “As I see what’s happening in the world around, people are enjoying more of it as a social gathering, but for us, it’s just about ibadaat [prayers], it’s more about faith and then spreading joy.”
Talking about how her non-Muslim friends, too, enjoy Eid, she adds, “Not just Eid, they are there for Ramzan also and they open iftars with us. That’s the beauty of this country that we get to celebrate all festivals together. Be it Diwali, Holi, Eid, Christmas or Baisakhi, we enjoy celebratory moments of every faith in India.”
Interact with Monika Rawal Kukreja at Twitter/@monikarawal
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