With only a single day left in the religious festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, the majority of the natives have left for their hometowns to celebrate the festival with their families and relatives leaving the capital city deserted, like every year.
A number of people residing in the capital for job purposes belong to the far-flung areas of the country and rush to their native towns to celebrate the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr with their relatives.
Taking advantage of the official holidays announced from April 10 (Wednesday) to April 12 (Friday), majority of the natives took two-day leave on April 08 (Monday) and April 09 (Tuesday) to combine weekends back and forth, to spend maximum time with their families.
“I left for my hometown in Multan after performing my official duty on Friday to spend quality time with my parents who were anxiously waiting for me for a long”, Saad Rafique, a government employee said.
“It is difficult to travel to my hometown frequently due to increased petrol prices so visiting there only for five days including traveling time does not seem logical, therefore I took leave of Monday and Tuesday to combine weekend holidays too”, he said while talking to APP.
Farhat Jabeen, who is a doctor by profession, said: “I left for my hometown in Kashmir on Friday to celebrate the festival with my family and relatives, taking two additional days’ leave after the official holiday’s announcement”.
She said that Eid is the only occasion when I visit my family living in my native town as it is not convenient to afford travel expenses frequently when the fuel prices and public transport fares have been increased.
Shaista Hameed, a working woman said, “My children were very enthusiastic to spend at least 10-day vacation with their grandparents in our native town so me and my husband took official leave of two days to combine it with the Eid holidays”.
“Summer vacation of our children is the best time to spend more time in our native towns otherwise it is not possible to get such a long break from their study routine”, she said.
The increased fares and petrol prices are another reason for spending more time in the native town on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr as it is not possible to bear travel expenses frequently.
The hustle and bustle of the capital city fade away during the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr every year as most of the natives prefer to celebrate the festivity with their families.
