For actor Sadia Khateeb, the true essence of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi has never been about grand spectacles or elaborate traditions, but rather the quiet, foundational warmth of home.
Reflecting on how her family gathers for the festival, she shares, "Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi at my home has always been very minimal. It’s always about cleaning the entire home, duas, doing your namaz (prayers) on time, cooking some delicious home-cooked food, and having that with the entire family after milad (devotional poetry recital). It has always been about your friends, family and neighbours, everyone getting together, eating together and just having a great time.”
This spirit of togetherness naturally extends to the kitchen, where traditional home-cooked delights and festive sweets take center stage. Highlighting the comfort of home-made traditions during the occasion, she shares, “Sweet treat is always made at home, with dates phirni as well as mutton delicacies staying closest to my heart and adding that sweet touch to the day’s celebrations as everyone comes together to partake in the blessings of the day.”
As an actor who is a part of demanding shoot schedules, balancing screen time with moments of celebrations, admitting that being away from home in Kashmir during festivals “is just tough” and “not a nice feeling. It’s a balance that, over the years, I have learned to maintain: to balance my spirituality, my faith and my work, and to find the right space of what brings peace to my heart. Festivals bring people together, and for me, any festival, every festival that I celebrate, is about getting people together. My friends and colleagues from the film industry, my neighbours or people who are not from the film industry, it’s always about getting together, cooking great food, eating together, charity, prayers and just putting out great vibes into the universe and praying to Almighty,” she says, adding that despite busy schedules.
On the core lesson that drives her daily life during Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, she points to “constant faith in our creator. “In fact, everything that our Prophet taught us is something that has been ingrained in our hearts forever. It’s like, if we are able to even follow one rule, one Sunnah, it feels like a blessing. If you’re able to follow even one, but we try to embody as many as possible. But I think his entire journey has been so magnificent. His teachings are something that I personally embody and try to follow in my life.”
{{/usCountry}}On the core lesson that drives her daily life during Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, she points to “constant faith in our creator. “In fact, everything that our Prophet taught us is something that has been ingrained in our hearts forever. It’s like, if we are able to even follow one rule, one Sunnah, it feels like a blessing. If you’re able to follow even one, but we try to embody as many as possible. But I think his entire journey has been so magnificent. His teachings are something that I personally embody and try to follow in my life.”
{{/usCountry}}”Nothing on this planet will make more sense than being closer to God. Everything comes with a struggle. All of us, we are all striving and struggling with something or the other. And in a world like today, which is actually called Kalyug for a reason, it’s very important that we are spiritually aligned and connected to our Creator and that we remember Him as much as we can, so these festivals make us find peace in a world like this. And once we have peace within, that’s what we will spread out as well.”