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Sadia Khateeb on celebrating Eid-ul-Adha in Kashmir with family: Eid ki raunak pata chalti hai yahaan
Shooting for us exclusively on Eid-ul-Adha, Sadia Khateeb talks about the memories of the festival and celebrating it in Kashmir after the Pahalgam attack
For Sadia Khateeb, Eid-ul-Adha is the day she looks forward to the most the entire year. “Eid is the most special part of my entire year. All my cousins and the entire family would get dressed up, get in one car, go out to every relatives’ house, collect Eidi and have the most delicious food. By the time we’d come back home, we’d count who earned how much during the day. Spending time with my cousins is my core memory of the festival. How Eid combines us all is the most beautiful part of the entire celebration,” the actor tells us as she poses exclusively for us on the festival.
Sadia Khateeb, who was seen in The Diplomat with John Abraham this year, adds, “Last Eid I was in Mumbai without my dad, and I felt so sad. I decided that next Eid I'll make sure I'll do it with my family, and now I am here. I'm also meeting my dad after a very long time and this is the best time to do it.” She also reveals the spiritual importance the day holds for her: “This is a very pure and pious month. On this day, you are supposed to be as kind as possible. And for me, it has always been a day when God is asking all of us to get together.”
Still a child at heart, Sadia insists that Eidi is the most exciting part of the day for her. “The first thing I ask my chachus even today on Eid is Eidi. There’s an accountant working on loop in my mind and I love people who give me Eidi. In the last few years, I have started giving Eidi to the younger generation in my family, and it makes me wonder when did I become an adult? Eidi is just a feeling to make you feel young,” she quips.
However, the actor admits that celebrating Eid with her family in Kashmir after the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor makes it all the more important. “What has happened has bought so much fear in my heart. It was a very hard time for all of us. I am meeting my dad after eight months, and so much has happened in this time. For me, Eid is all about my papa now,” she says, asserting the importance of the day in Kashmir: “Raunak aur khushi kisko bolte hain wo pata chalta hai yahaan is din.”
While the attack did create a sense of fear regarding Kashmir tourism, Sadia requests people to come visit there. “What has happened is very sad, but at the same time, there is no place like Kashmir that can give you joy like it can. One tragedy cannot define the whole city or the whole community. So, I want people to go and experience Kashmir, not for the city, but for themselves. All of us should go there and spend time for ourselves in that beautiful place. It’s all safe,” she ends.
