Change not always for the better

Reminiscing about Eids past and present, a group of friends who sometimes sit and recall the ‘good old days,’ regretted that some things had not changed for the better and one of them was the selecting; buying and posting of Eid greeting cards! Yes, it used to be part of the excitement and a very important one at that. The right card for the right person - one with written sentiments for family and friends to convey our love and affection and plain ones for acquaintances and officials as a public relations exercise!  

Customs and habits change but not always for the better. Though it might not be important in some people’s mind, these days Eid cards – or any others, for that matter – are not on the shopping list of families except in rare cases - it is only companies; organisations; government officials and foreign missions which give public relations importance and have their office send out cards to clients and well wishers. This is a sad state of affairs. Of course email cards are sent out by the dozen as they are available by the hundreds and that too for free - but it is not the same. There is something special about receiving an actual card and even about sending it. It’s hard to describe but it does leave you in a ‘feel good’ mood, either way!

When actual greeting cards were in their heyday, it took some time to look through them and find one with the right sentiments you wanted to convey. There were hundreds to choose from. Looking for a decent one which said ‘Eid Mubarik’ in Urdu – or for that matter even in English – was like looking for a needle in a haystack! There were cards with ‘Happy Eid;’ ‘Happy Eid Day,’ ‘Eid Greetings;’ ‘Joyous Eid;’ and every other Eid but no ‘Eid Mubarik.’ A majority of the cards were decorated with flowers like you never see in real life; cheap pictures of film stars; copies of cards used for Christmas and cards with animals; there were even cards with Batman, Superman and Spiderman and that ridiculous model for all little girls, Barbie! Big, garish cards, glowing with all the colours of the rainbow, glittering with foil and carrying utterly inane or irrelevant messages, were the ones that were the most popular. These were sold on roadside stalls that were set up by young men wanting to earn some extra cash for Eid and there was always a lot of people looking and buying. It was fun looking for the right card!

Anyway, it’s no use ‘crying over split milk’ as they say. What’s gone is gone and such customs will probably never be revived, thanks to technology. But you can still find a card section in most book stores, so if you are feeling sentimental and want to send an actual card, then you have the choice of getting one from there. Go ahead. Do it! You will make the recipient very happy and feel good yourself.