Jamshedpur: The pious month of Ramzan is about to end and Eid is eagerly awaited. The Steel City is being decked up for the occasion.
The festival is incomplete without sewain, the dish prepared on the occasion. People were busy purchasing ‘sewain’, clothes, household items etc.
The people of the Muslim community are in a mood of festivity and shopping as Eid is inching closer. Markets at Sakchi, Mango, Bistupur and Jugsalai are decked up with different types and varieties of Sewain.
Mohammed Nizam, a shopkeeper at Sakchi market informed that many types of ‘sewain’ are available in the market. These are priced according to quality.
“The first type is machine-made, second is hand-made and the third one is Banarsi ‘sewain’, which comes from Varanasi. The most demanded one is Banarsi due to its premium quality (it’s very soft),” he added.
The machine-made is longer in size and cheapest. It is sold between Rs 25 and 30 per kg. The hand-made is better in quality than the first one and requires milk during preparations. The Banarsi type is of premium quality. It is priced between Rs 60 and Rs 70 per kg and prepared in ‘khoya’.
“It’s a mouth-watering delicacy and the most interesting part being that it can be prepared in many ways which adds to its taste. We wait eagerly for Eid to relish sewain,” said Faraz, a buyer at a shop in Mango.
Dressed in their best, men, women and children can easily be witnessed in city markets busy in their last minute shopping for Eid. “We keep shops open in the nights during the Eid fortnight. This is a big festival and we register a heavy sale every year,” said Annu, a shopkeeper.
Not only garments and sweet shops were full of buyers, the mehendi and gift shops also witnessed huge crowds on Tuesday. However, the mouth-watering sewain-based dishes prepared on Eid are also a reason for the happiness of kids and adults.
Sheena, a resident of Dhatkidih said, “Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid is an occasion of brotherhood and harmony, a time to love friends and forgive opponents.” She added that she would be preparing ‘sheer khurma’, ‘lachha’ and ‘Benarasi sewain’, on Eid. She added that the festival of Eid symbolises brotherhood and unity.
Dry fruits are also in great demand as they are added to almost every dish during this time. Fatima Beg, shopping at Bistupur, said, “Every year, I come here to buy sewai and dry fruits. All the shops here sell the accompaniments. So at one stop we get everything.”
Eid shopping has picked up with shops laying out the finest fare and luring customers with discounts and other incentives. From chikan kurtas to Turkey skull caps, bangles and trinkets, the markets are all dressed up for the festive splurge. But the most visible buy remains the traditional sewai.
