Eid Mubarak ! Have a blast !!!

The last day of Ramadan and the last Iftar at six - we sat quietly at a Syrian Shwrama shop breaking our fast. We had a flight to catch in a few hours time to go back to Dubai and I was already missing Cairo.

The buzzing traffic a few moments ago had disappeared altogether at Iftar time. It was kind of strange to find Cairo so quiet all of sudden – like a city after holocaust. Every day for the last one month of Ramadan, it has been like this at six in the evening. A pall would set in before the City crawled back to action at night.

But the last iftar was different from other days. Days of penance were to end in grand feast and merry making. Cairo was waiting in hushed anticipation for that burst of life – The city would soon be dazzling like a beautiful girl with the famous Cairo nightlife cranked up several notches in a feverish frenzy to celebrate the gift of life at Eid.

Mohammed like all young boys of his age is waiting for the big bang. “Tonight no one will sleep in Cairo. We will have a blast.” Literally so! There will barely be any walking space in Cairo in a few hours time. Mohammed and his friends have hired a vehicle to go around the city, blasting away as they inch forward through the crowd. “That’s the fun…there will be honking vehicles everywhere and loud blaring music. The police will not say anything to anyone tonight.” Did they ever? I wondered.

I was reminded of the Pujas in Kolkata and its unruly chaotic crowd – jostling, screaming, and screeching. I can picture what Cairo would be tonight - bursting at its seams with its jubilant, jocund, freaking population. Beeping, hooting, tooting cars will move at the speed of a donkey cart, dotting the roads. Most of the passengers (other than the sweaty driver) would walk along trying to clear the road blocks but actually, need I say, adding to the consternation - howling, screaming, yelling, bawling, bellowing, shouting, shrieking, screeching, yelping and yapping…

My PC ran out of synonyms or I would go and on trying to create the Puja fever at Kolkata. There will light eveywhere. Smell of food would wafting from the roadside shanty stalls. Revelry would carry on all night till people are too groggy to push their cars back home. Bleary eyed they will return however, blasting away only to keep themselves awake in the wee hours of morning.

Hmmm I know what I am going to miss. I will miss the pandemonium, my crazy Cairo capers but most of all I will miss you lovely people.

Eid Mubarak dear ones! Yes have a blast! Make it a few extra hoots from my side!