Letter from Lahore: Eid becomes occasion to display status

In times when money and financial standing seem to matter above all else, the once simple festival of Eid Al Fitr, too, has been converted into an occasion to show off status.

Nowhere is this more true than in Lahore, a city known for its reputation as a centre of trade and as such a city where wealth is rarely hidden. Ostentatious houses replicating the White House complete with pillars, or towering structures painted pink, green and mauve like some reincarnation of Hansel and Gretel's marzipan house are all manifestations of this love for the ostentatious.

And of course, Eid provides an opportunity to take this to new heights.

As such, whereas once Eid tradition was built around the purchase of glass bangles by young girls to go with special suits stitched for Eid and the preparation of a variety of dishes at home, it has now expanded to far bigger proportions.

The tingle of delicate glass bangles is fast becoming a thing of the past. Stalls set up in most parts of the city now instead display more elaborate ornaments, in metal, silver or even hand-embroidered leather, a tradition borrowed from Hyderabad, while in some households, nothing but the glitter of gold is apparently enough, with women frequently displaying their latest collections of expensive jewellery.

And on the traditional trolleys wheeled in as guests arrive, the traditional dishes have given way to elaborate cakes, pastries and pies, prepared by the poshest bakeries in the city.

Fitting in with this trend, children in households are often curiously rigged up for the occasion in laced Western dresses and starched, ruffled shirts and trousers, rather than the shalwar kameez or 'ghararas' of the past.

It also seems to have become something of a fashion to fly in food items from other parts of the country, and among the truly rich and wealthy, even overseas - or at least pretend this is the case.

It is, therefore, no longer unusual for hosts to claim that the prawn salad has been brought in from Karachi, or that the jam tarts have been specially ordered from that 'lovely little pastry shop' in Rawalpindi.

Apparently, the mere fact that they were prepared outside Lahore raises the quality of food items, while in a somewhat ironical twist, in other cities hosts declare sweetmeats and special savouries to have been brought in from Lahore, a city known for its culinary delights.

Thus, much of the conversation on such occasions revolves around the 'Black Forest cake from Dubai', even if this item looks suspiciously identical to the one stocked by the bakery just down the road, while tales of how difficult it proved to be to ensure the item reached town in time for Eid is fast becoming yet another favourite story.

And of course, after a cup of tea served alongside cake flown in for the occasion, or lunch that has mysteriously been cooked in Karachi rather than somewhere closer to home, the done thing is to then settle down to the latest videos of Western, or better still Indian films - an increasingly desirable commodity with the ban on Indian cable channels creating a new demand for such films.

The retirement to a farm house in the countryside or to the hills for the holidays following Eid is yet another custom that is fast becoming tradition in some circles, while there are others who disappear to Murree or to relatives in Peshawar, but then maintain that the days after Eid were in fact spent on the beaches of Sri Lanka or on London's shopping streets.

It is clear too that the rapid change in customs seen over the fast decade is becoming increasingly entrenched.

While in the heart of the old city, the past generally remains intact, with old traditions living on, these are becoming increasingly alien in other parts of the city, as a new age of materialism exerts its hold on Lahore and its residents.