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In the next three days, people are looking forward to a feast of mouth-watering dishes.
The iconic SS Hogg (New) Market in downtown Kolkata has a gloomy atmosphere because it has lost its usual noisy business before the three-day Eid al-Adha celebration or the well-known Bakra Eid in this area. The celebrations started on Wednesday. For the second year in a row, Bangladeshi shoppers were absent due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The lockdown caused by the pandemic and the total ban on flights and other cross-border transportation between Bangladesh and neighboring West Bengal have forced Bangladeshi shoppers to avoid the shopping mall in this part of South Asia, Kolkata.
Bangladeshi shoppers are the backbone of the economy in central Kolkata because they contribute a large part of the business. Nevertheless, as sales have fallen to the lowest point in history for two consecutive years, the virus outbreak has brought a considerable impact on retailers.
Eid al-Fitr celebrations across the entire Indian subcontinent — from Karachi to Kochi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Dhaka — have been muted because of the shadow of infectious diseases that looms over revelers.
Such happy moments are limited to immediate family members, and many families in South Asia lack this sense of unity and bond as a community.
Take, for example, Saleem Ashraf, a second-generation self-employed Kolkata.
Since last year, his Eid al-Adha celebrations have been reduced to his nuclear family, which includes his two children, wife and widow.
Saleem lost his 77-year-old father Ashrafullah Siddiqui on April 18 due to Covid-19.
Salim’s family originated in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, where Kolkata became their home more than 55 years ago.
“However, most of my family members are scattered all over the world, including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, the United States and Canada. Usually, we meet each year during Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha because they will visit us. Alas! This This feeling has disappeared in the past two years because our lives have stagnated because of the raging virus,” Salim said Khaliji TimesBecause the conversation was interrupted by passers-by knocking on the door repeatedly, they wanted to share the sacrifice of goat meat in accordance with the glorious tradition of Eid al-Fitr.
At this joyous moment, Salim missed his brothers and sisters-the Tabrez brothers and the Masood brothers and the Sabana sisters.
Tabrez lives in Doha, Qatar, and Masood and Shabana live in Sharjah.
They left Kolkata more than ten years ago and Eid al-Fitr will bring them to this city. This model was broken last year, and this year has continued this trend.
“Video calls and similar technological breakthroughs do not give people a similar sense of intimacy,” said Salim, a frequent visitor to the UAE who is an exporter of finished leather products.
Saleem is an admirer of a disciplined lifestyle in the UAE, where land laws are sacred and inviolable. He talked about the excessive food inflation that India has been struggling with, which is related to the unprecedented spike in fuel prices.
Salim said that although cargo transportation has almost stagnated due to restrictions caused by Covid-19 compared to 2020, and the cost of livestock has dropped slightly this year, in general, prices have increased by half in the past two years.
For example, Salim sponsored seven goats, three in his hometown of Kolkata, and four returned to his ancestor Kanpur. He had to cough about Dh5,000, which is higher than what he had spent two years ago. Out several times.
However, despite the fact that Kolkata, whose glorious years have passed, was too costly and income reduced due to lack of business opportunities, the human spirit of one of the most dynamic cities in the world is shining.
Covid-19 failed to quell Calcutta’s fusion culture and eternal love for feasts.
Salem’s apartment buildings are more than 60 years old and are the epitome of the city’s undiluted cosmopolitan celebrations.
Of the 16 apartments in the building, only 5 live in Muslims, and the rest belong to other faiths as equal opportunity participants.
For the next three nights, they are all looking forward to a grand feast, including mouth-watering lamb stew, biriyani, kaleji (lamb liver), korma, assorted kebabs, parathas, and like shahi tukda and pure kur horse.
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