Srinagar

Eid eve shopping reached a feverish pitch on Thursday in J&K's Srinagar city as buyers thronged mutton, poultry, bakery, hosiery and firecracker shops in large numbers.

Queues of buyers literally mobbed mutton shops in the city as sellers seemed to be at their wits end who to oblige first.

Rates fixed by the administration appear to bother neither the sellers nor the buyers.

People are desperate to buy mutton, poultry, bakery and other essentials as shopkeepers dictate prices.

Buyers jump over each other to buy more and the sellers seem to enjoy the impatience of the shoppers.

Vegetables, mutton, poultry, bakery and hosiery items are the most sought after on Eid-ul-Fitr as the holy festival comes after the fasting month of Ramzan.

Parents carrying kids to buy clothes and firecrackers are a common sight in the city as all major and minor traffic arteries start getting choked due to the heavy rush of vehicles.

Makeshift bakery shops have come up at dozens of places where sellers have spread their merchandise on the pedestrian malls in different district headquarters of the Valley.

Mutton sellers are freely selling mutton at Rs 650 to 700 a Kg while the officially fixed rate is Rs 535 per Kg. Availability not price is the rule of the market today.

People want to have a great Eid festival as overall peace prevails in Kashmir despite sporadic incidents of violence in the rural areas of south Kashmir.

Children are dictating terms to eager parents who want them to have their way at least during the Eid festivities.

Traditionally, after offering the Eid prayers at different Eidgahs and mosques in the morning, Muslims greet each other and visit their friends and relatives in the afternoon.

Predominant majority of local Muslims keep the dawn to dusk fast in the Valley during Ramzan. This makes lunch a highly missed occasion during Ramzan.

Naturally, Eid lunch is a family feast to which the entire family looks forward after the end of the month of prayer and penance.

Wearing new clothes is a tradition that is observed by the local Muslims and thousands of devout Muslims lining up for the Eid prayers offers a spectacle of colour and devotion.

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The only thing that surprises an onlooker during the Eid eve is the desperation of the shoppers. To somebody not used to seeing such flooded markets, it seems there would be no tomorrow. Everybody wants to have everything and that too today itself.