Eid Experience in Bangladesh

Growing up in Bangladesh as a young kid, my Eid experiences were quite good. Like any other kid, I used to look forward to the Eid day. Schools used to be closed, extended family members would visit each other and enjoy lots of traditional food. Perhaps, the most fun part was collecting collecting Eidi to buy some of the stuff that we always wanted to get as a young kid but simply couldn't get it. Most of the time we used to visit our village where my grand parents would stay for the most of the part. So, visiting them after a year or so would always bring joy to our young soul.

Now, coming back to reality. I woke up a bit late yesterday. Both me and my son got up, took shower and got ready to go the Mosque for Eid prayer. We had our new clothes on and we left our home for the Mosque. This should have been our first Eid al-Adha together. Alas! that didn't go well. Turns out we went to the Mosque a bit late and the prayer was long over by then. I should have checked for the prayer time the day prior. Definitely a grave mistake from my end.

We came back home but we were definitely a bit upset with the whole issue. I sat down in-front of the computer searching for any other mosque where I could go for the prayer. Based on the search result I figured that the national mosque of Bangladesh, the Baitul Mukarram will be holding multiple Eid prayer and I should be able to participate on one of them if I can reach there on time. I didn't wait for long. I told my family that I am leaving for the mosque and left for the prayer soon after.

When I stepped out, I realized that I didn't take one important issue in my consideration and that is majority of the public transportation system will not be available on Eid day. It took me little while but I eventually found an auto rickshaw and I was able to reach my destination on time. Generally speaking, on a regular work day in Dhaka city it should have taken over an hour and a half to reach the same destination but it was very different on Eid day. The roads were empty and the driver was quick enough to drop me off at my destination much earlier.

I finished my wudu and headed for the prayer hall. After listening the khutbah for few minutes we finished our prayer and stepped out from the prayer all and took some photos of the mosque from the yard. I prayed at the national mosque for the very first time and left for home with great joy. It didn't take long for me to reach home either. Once again, there were barely any traffic on the streets.

I came back home and had some food. My children didn't want to miss the opportunity to take some photos together. So the photo session went on for sometime. Then the time came for Eidi and now it was their turn to receive some money from Papa. They got some regardless. I stayed at home for the rest of the day and spent time with my family. Could not ask for anything better than that.

Eid Mubarak!