Holiday mood refuses to die down in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi is still in the grip of holiday mood even after the reopening of public and private offices following Eid days’ celebrations. Daily cacophony of both people and vehicular traffic has not disappeared altogether.
Although people are returning to the city to restart their jobs, most of them are yet to leave their sweet homes in villages and towns where they are enjoying their time in the company of family and friends.
“Like other times, I experienced heavy congestion in the city. Wagons, Suzukis and other modes of transport were seen plying the roads with passengers packed aboard. Even Eidul Fitr is over, the city roads are chock-a-block despite the fact that most people are still outside Rawalpindi in their native places where they went to celebrate the occasion with their near and dear ones.”
“I went to ‘kutechary’ in connection with my court case on Thursday and found no place to park my car there,” said Farooq Haider Mirza, an American citizen.
“The festive mood is prevailing in most of the amusement parks and entertainment hubs with visitors crowding the places. I went to Jinnah Park with my family, had snapshots and a really delicious snack at MacDonald,” said Moharram Ali, an employee of a private organisation.
Ambreen Ali, an officer at a ministry said: “Although the government offices have reopened, presence of staff at the offices is very sparse as many officers and employees are still to return from their hometowns, with some of them seeking a couple of days of extension. It will take 3-4 days more for them to join their offices.”
“As part of religious culture and social custom, the staffs at various offices exchanged Eid wishes on the first workday. Those who attended their offices were seen exchanging Eid greetings and pleasantries with their colleagues,” added Ambreen.
“The same is the case with the private offices. Attendance of officers and staff is very thin as the holiday mood still prevails,” said Aalia Hasan, private secretary to the Managing Director of an IT firm.
“We went into holiday last Saturday. The normal office hours have resumed after a shortened work period during Ramazan,” said Amjad Ali, an employee of Al-Falah Bank.
“I braved packed transportation to get home and was rewarded with the opportunity of reunion with my spouse, children, relatives and old friends. In today’s fast-paced world, Eid provides a rare occasion when almost everyone returns to his/her roots.”
“Going home for Eid is something to look forward to because families always wait for us,” said Nasir Hussain who has resumed his job at ministry of finance.
“We are enjoying a comparatively longer vacation. We are celebrating holidays by visiting family members and having get-together with friends and eating special meals,” said Syed Asrar Hussain, a medical college student.
“I don’t have my immediate family with me, so I substitute them with my schoolmates here. I talk with my family later in the day,” said Iftikhar Naqi, who is originally from Pakistan and has lived in the UK for ten years.
“My parents are the eldest in our family, so our house is still full of relatives these days. The youth usually eat out these days; anywhere will do. From street corner joints to up market establishments, they go there and catch up with one another over a meal,” said Sher Ali, an accountant with an international NGO.