Treasured gifts for Eid

Giving gifts for Eid is a done thing. It is like Yuletide (Christmas). I asked my friend to pick up some saris for gifts. The colours turned out to be so garish, and the material so thick that I had to go the next day and change the gifts.
Some friends of mine in Melbourne send me “Azad” products, which they collect, when they make their yearly visits home. “Azad” has well-known local artists to do the illustration of flowers, faces, the crescent moon and the minarets. I find the product, calendars and cards quite delightful and far more interesting than the foreign ones at Hallmark's and Archie's at Dhanmondi and elsewhere, like Mohammadpur and Gulshan. Even in the days of computers and facebooks, Eid and birthday cards are not outdated.Getting gifts like “Shalwar –kameezes” or a French or English perfume like Yardley or Gucci Rush or even some brand of Chanel is welcome. A set of perfumed foreign soap like English or French brands such as L'Oreal” are appreciated too. Expensive gifts like quilted bed-cover and pillow sets with cut works, which cost over Taka 20,000 are a sweet but debatable idea.
Getting sweet-meat boxes for Eid is welcome. So is a bowl of goulash or a tray of roasted chicken, which we once got on Eid from an aunt. One festive season we got an enormous nut and chocolate cake. The family licked the platter clean. Being diabetic, I had to keep clear of the gateaux. When you are with God in heaven, you can have all the chocolates and cakes you dream of, reminded a friend about my sweet tooth.
Getting boxes of cashew nuts, and cashew nut biscuits is fun on any Eid occasion. A present of a brace of “pati-hash” or spoon-billed ducks for the occasion can be fun – specially in a family where hunting wild life is a well-loved sport. This is taking into account that the rain near autumn, cools down the end July summer heat. The temperature should be low enough to enjoy duck meat.
If on Eid, instead of bringing sweetmeats, one gets a jar of “Boroi” (a form of berry) “achar”--this is both welcome and inviting. I remember myself giving token gifts for Eid – like large Imperial Lather or Yardley soap or even artefacts from “Piraan” for only Taka 220. This is not taken for granted. The items from “Piraan” remain unusual and cute like key chains in the form of guitar or bejewelled elephant. Palau rice packets are not discarded--even for Christmas it is given to make “paesh”. They say that giving jackfruits as an Eid gift is not correct. Yet I know of some people who were overjoyed, with their arrival--like the brace of ducks.