Eid cards — A beautiful fading into oblivion

RAWALPINDI:

The century-old tradition of sending Eid cards to loved ones living in distant cities and across the seas to share in the joy of Eid has completely died out.

The tradition of sending Eid cards has now been replaced with social media applications including WhatsApp, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram which enable people to send greetings to their loved ones at home and abroad in the blink of an eye.

The act of sending an Eid card was a beautiful way to share the joy of Eid with one’s loved ones in the past. Whole families eagerly waited to receive Eid cards from their loved ones living abroad.

Looking under the layers of these sealed Eid cards, when a note of five or 10 rupees came out, the joy of Eid would get doubled and the family would burst with joy.

Eid card shopping was also an art. Children used to buy special Eid cards for their parents, wives for their husbands living abroad, sisters for their brothers and couples for their better halves.

Islamic, cultural, humorous, loving, sad and funny Eid card designs were plentiful. It was the peak of the film industry. Eid cards with decorated pictures of actors, artists and sports stars were also in abundance. There were also huge-size Eid cards.

The postman, who delivered Eid cards from door to door, also brought and distributed these cards with great preparation. People had to pay Rs10 ‘Eidi’ to the postman for delivering the Eid card.

As soon as Ramazan began, Eid cards selling stalls were set up in all the markets, where women, men and children used to buy the cards of their choice which were quite costly.

The Eid card sale was regularly called a business season. Every family used to buy five to seven Eid cards on average and would post them to their loved ones.

Special shops would decorate Eid cards. Even now, shops have some Eid cards for sale, but now there is no buyer for them.

Earlier, the printing press used to take one month to design and print these cards in various decorative designs. A large number of Eid cards filled with love for the Pakistan Army were also sold, while government officers, private companies, doctors, and lawyers used to send specially printed professional Eid cards.

Eid card making and selling had become a small industry, which has now been eliminated by the advancement of technology.

The new generation is not familiar with the Eid card culture. Earlier, families used to keep the best Eid cards as decorations in their sitting and drawing rooms.

Irshad Hasan said that in every Ramazan, the purchasing of Eid cards like Eid clothes was done with full preparation and they used to post Eid cards with great preparation.

Post offices across the country used to issue a regular schedule of Eid card delivery bookings, which was usually from the 18th to the 24th of Ramazan, during which there was a rush of Eid card senders in every post office. The Eid cards that were booked after that were delivered after the Eid holidays.

Everyone used to buy and post their favourite Eid cards. The big companies would also print Eid cards for their publicity and provide them to their employees. All of this has not become a beautiful memory.

Today's generation is limited to sending Eid greetings via WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook instead of by Eid cards. The present generation has started fulfilling the ritual of sending Eid greetings by forwarding the messages that are shared in social media groups.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2023.