28 Dec. 2000 - 3 Jan. 2001
Issue No.514
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 Dec. 2000 - 3 Jan. 2001 Issue No.514 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Happy Eid
Nobody feels the joy of the Eid as much as children, and when we were children, we could hardly contain our excitement while waiting for it: pocket money, new outfits, new shoes. We would put on these valuable garments and go out to show them off to other children of the neighbourhood.
When I was a boy, my family lived in Abbasiya. I would go to the cinema with my friends, but we would choose a theatre in another neighbourhood, as far away as possible, in order to go by hantour (ornate horse-drawn cart), the hantour journey being as essential a part of our Eid holiday as the cinema. On normal days we would go on foot or ride the tram. But on Eid day, recreation notwithstanding, we feared for our new shoes.
We would also show off our mothers' kahk (the Eid confection par excellence), all the different varieties, so that instead of having one helping each of us would get five or six. The last time I ate kahk was a long time ago. When I became diabetic I stopped eating sweets though I had a liking for them.
That is the way of life: you give up your pleasures one by one until there is nothing left, then you know it is time to go.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
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