Riya Sharma (BOMBAY TIMES; June 5, 2019)

Every year Delhi girl Huma Qureshi, visits her hometown to celebrate Eid with her extended family, but for the last two years, her parents have been visiting her in Mumbai to celebrate the festival. This year, it will be an intimate family Eid for Huma, and while her parents are visiting her for the celebrations, the actress seems to be missing her brother Saqib Saleem, who is currently shooting in London. “Eid is going to be different this year because Saqib is not here. He is shooting in London so I am missing him a lot. But my parents are coming over, and we’ll do a nice intimate family Eid this time and miss Saqib a lot. Hum saath mein milkar Eid manayenge aur Saqib ko thoda chidayenge bhi,” she says.

She adds that while growing up, getting eidi, dressing up and eating a variety of delicacies was the tradition on the day of Eid. “I used to be worried about what I would wear, and how much eidi I would get. I have so many special memories of Eid — lots of gifts, mithai and biryani. I think ever since my childhood we have always had an open house, so everybody would drop in for a bite. As the festival comes after a whole month of fasting, it is really special for everyone because it is the first time in a month that you can eat lunch. Getting eidi has been the best memory of Eid from my childhood. We used to be at our dadi’s house. Theirs was the first house that we would visit, we would wait for my dad and uncles to come back home after namaz and give us money. Hum itne saare bachche hote they that our uncles used to get confused and some kids would get eidi twice and then we would count our money, and some kids would even start crying. When we talk about it now, we all laugh about how silly we used to be,” shares Huma.

Reminiscing about her Eid celebrations in Delhi the actor adds, “Ab toh Mumbai hi ghar hai. Delhi mein we have our whole khandaan - chachus, khaalas - everyone is there. But in Mumbai it is just my friends from the industry who are here. It is also an important part of my life now. In a way, they are more closer to me than my family back home because I have spent so much time here.” Does she invite any of her friends from the industry to her home for Eid, we ask? “Honestly, I don’t invite anyone from the industry, but since it is like an open house, mere friends khud hi aa jaate hain,” she replies.

But over the years, the celebrations have also changed for Huma. “It has changed a little bit. Bachchpan wali excitement toh nahi hoti hai, tab aap zyada enjoy karte ho. Now I like to make sure that every year I get something special made, like sheer khurma. I remember, last time I had asked my mother for the special recipe and I tried my hand at that. Last Eid was the first time when I made seviyan and sheer khurma. So har year kuch toh change hota hi hai.”