Eid celebrations have begun across the globe with much fervour, prayers, and feasting. And it’s no different for actor Shama Sikander who is all set to celebrate her first Eid after getting married.
In an exclusive interview with The Free Press Journal, Shama opens up on her Eid plans and her favourite part of the festival.
"My plans are simple. It's just going to be close friends and family get-together. Actually, it is an open house and anybody can just drop in. My mom will be cooking some really amazing traditional food like biryani, sheer khurma and seviyan. So I'm going to have a nice lunch party," Shama says.
Asked how will Eid be different this year the newlywed shares, "Well, of course, everybody's so happy for us. And obviously, this is our first Eid as a married couple. So it might have a little extra love for us. But we both have been together as partners fully and wholeheartedly for eight years now. So people have sort of seen us together as a couple. I don't expect anything from anybody. So let's see how it comes."
Shama says her favourite part of the festival is that everyone comes together to celebrate. "I like to have one day of full house when people are together and there's a lot of good energy around, friends, family, loved ones and everybody. I like to see everybody in new clothes and my favourite part of Eid is, of course, my mom's sheer khurma. She also makes amazing biryani which my friends love. But my all-time favourite is her sheer khurma," Shama gushes.
Sharing her best memory of Eid, Shama recalls, "The best memories of Eid are always the childhood memories when there was nothing to be prepared from your side, you just had to get up and fast all the month then by the end of the month, you're so excited that it's getting over and now you're gonna get to wear new clothes and get your Eidi. That's the favourite part of every child, I bet. When I was a kid, I used to dress up on Eid and used to be super excited for the collections."
"When you're a child you can enjoy more because that's the only purpose of your life - to enjoy each and every day. As you grow up, you get so many responsibilities that you somehow, I feel, end up losing the charm a bit. Today, I have to organise the whole party. I have to invite everybody and prepare a lot of things. So yes, I guess my favourite memories are of my childhood for sure," she adds.
Finally, after two years, there are no COVID-19 restrictions during the festival of Eid. Shama says it feels amazing. "It is the first Eid in two years where we will be celebrating properly. However, I'm always a less-people person. I'm an introvert so I like to have fewer people around so I can give attention to everybody. And I feel they also can enjoy and give attention to everybody. So to me, COVID or no COVID, it is always fewer people. But definitely, people don't have to wear masks. People don't have to worry about their makeup coming off in the mask (laughs). And more than that people are healthy and safe so I'm very happy about that," she concludes.
