After the month-long fasting, the faithfuls mark the festivities of Eid-ul-Fitr with fervour and enthusiasm and share their joys and happiness. Everyone may have his or her own way of celebrating the occasion in accordance with their financial position or resources. However, in this regard one aspect seems common for women especially the girls. That is the application of henna- a dye extracted from the leaves of an old world plant called Lawsonia inermis. On the eve of the Eid festival most of the females decorate their hands with henna in fulfillment of a longstanding tradition. And for this very purpose creative and novel designs are also adopted to bring about some newness and innovation and several options are utilized on this very count.
Some women take on the responsibility as amateurs to apply henna to family members, friends and neighbours. Professionals ‘Menhdi walis’ also take the field and do a roaring business as well.
Some of the beauty parlours also scramble to meet the demand in this regard and to cater to those who are in a position to afford this service.
A great deal of rush is witnessed for the application of henna on the ‘Chand Raat’- the night preceding Eid day, as hordes of females swarm the bazaars and the markets for the shopping. In the city of Karachi at the main markets such as Tariq Road, Clifton, Bahadurabad, Saddar, Hyderi etc. the stalls also spring up for specially for the application of henna. It has been observed that the Pakistani, Indian and the Arabic designs for the application of henna are quite popular among the females.
The charges generally range between Rs. 50 to 200 and beyond depending upon the choice of the designs, the nature of the area and the income groups. As five fingers are not equal, there are some females who have little or no interest as far as the application of the henna was concerned and these included some of the working women. “I have no interest at all as far as the henna is concerned”, remarked Erum, who is a working woman and associated with an academic institution. However, there is quite a large number of women who have a craze for henna and that their Eid preparations are considered incomplete without decorating their hands with ‘Mendhi’- the local name of the dye.
“ I am really crazy regarding henna,” said Rabia who is also a working woman. Those who have an interest specially visit the bazaars and the markets to get their hands painted with henna on the Chand Raat as part of the Eid preparations. This prompts some of the shopping centres to make special arrangements for henna applications. It also serves the shopkeepers in attracting the shoppers to their market. The services of the expert females are also acquired for this very purpose. This helps them to earn some money while at the same time it also caters to the requirements of many who are eager to celebrate the Eid in a joyous manner.