Zing

A Happy Eid-ul-Duha to everyone.

Downtown XL Center – the makeshift  Eidgah where the Eid Prayers took place.

We went to downtown Hartford for the Eid prayers. The children and elders all wore new clothes to bring a zing to our Eid.

Here I am wearing the same clothes I wore on last Eid. I have to make do with a few clothes I brought with me from Peshawar. The shalwar, qameez and dopatta ensemble comes in usage like today’s occasion.

Two Black American Ladies who had come to offer Eid Prayers 

We had a lunch get together  in a park. There was chicken barbecued outside. Everybody contributed a dish, or two. There ware two types of cooked rice, various salads, hot dogs, kababs, barbecued chicken pieces, and many dishes of desserts. It was lovely meeting new people. I made new friends among the ladies. Their enthusiasm at meeting me waned a bit after learning that I was leaving, and going back to Houston in ten days time.

From here Houston seems as far away as the moon. 

…..

DAILY PROMPT

Zing!

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/zing/

To – Do? Done!

Quickly list five things you’d like to change in your life. Now write a post about a day in your life once all five have been crossed off your to – do list.

1. Return notes to Shazia.
2. Choose a dress for the coming Eid.
3. Eating favorite Ice – cream.
4. Visit aunty Farah.
5. See a movie.

Esme hurried to cross the road. She had so many things lined up. She had finished her final paper. It wasn’t possible for today, but by tomorrow she could go, and visit Shazia, and return all the notes she had taken from her.

For now, when she reached home, she was going to choose a dress for the coming Eid-ul-Duha, which was less than a month away. Mother had badgered Esme to order the dress, but she kept on saying, “after the exams”. So that was the first priority.

Then next on the agenda was having her favorite ice-cream with mother; a concoction of pecans, and caramel. She was going to enjoy each spoon full.
Sheer bliss!

She looked forward to visiting aunty Farah. She hadn’t seen her adorable cousins Maira, and Farwa for some time. She missed their lively chatter.

Finally, Esme planned to stay up late, and watch the latest movie she had ordered.

Now she was hurrying to cross the road. She spun in slow motion, as the car hit her, scattering what she held in her hands.

So much for plans!

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The Butcher

Daily Prompt: Bookworms
Grab the nearest book. Open it and go to the tenth word. Do a Google Image Search of the word. Write about what the image brings to mind.

A day before, I had returned my library books. You can imagine my exasperation the only book lying in my room was my grand son Sn’s book, “More Scary Stories.” A week earlier, I had introduced him to “Freaky Folk Tales.” He was enthralled by the stories and could have horror to his heart’s content. Feeling indebted to me he thrust his book in my hands and told me to read it.

As per the Daily Prompt I opened the book, and the tenth word was butcher. Trust me to land in a soup. So here it goes.

Obviously everybody knows that a butcher is a person who slaughters animals and sell their meat.
A short poem to the butcher by me.

Please give me a sirloin
It’s so tempting to look
I will cook it and bake it
Kindly take it off the hook

Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Duha. On this day Muslims around the world give sacrifice in God’s Name.

The tradition of sacrifice goes to the Prophet Ibrahim. He built the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It’s the same Prophet, known to the Christians as Abraham and to the Jews too. He was told by God to offer sacrifice in a dream. Muslims follow this tradition every year.

On Eid day butchers are in great demand. Believe me finding a butcher is like finding a needle in a haystack. Everybody is offering sacrifice so the butcher becomes a hot commodity. They are booked days in advance. They charge exorbitant rates. You have to give according to their demand, otherwise you will have to do the slaughtering yourself, which is simply unthinkable.

One thing is truly amazing. I always get a jolt of surprise while cooking. The sacrificial meat is extremely yummy. Probably you have given the sacrifice in God’s Name.

Image and Cartoon’s Credit: Thanks to Google.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/14/daily-prompt-bookworm/The Butcher