After offering Eid prayers, Mohamamd Adnan’s family gathers in his grandfather’s Hujra [community area] for Balani.
Balani, Pashto term for invitations, is a tradition still followed in most parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Lower Dir, reflecting the region’s strong bond over food.
All the tribe members prepare a special rice dish served with fried chicken, yogurt and desi ghee and get together at the tribe’s oldest member’s hujra to share their food.
“It’s a sort of mini-fast from Fajr prayers until the family gathers and eats the rice and other stuffs together to break it,” Adnan tells The Express Tribune.
The gathering is attended by every male member of the tribe – from elders to children – without any hesitation and even the poor are welcomed.
“We invite the poor to attend our tribe’s gathering, so that they don’t feel isolated on Eid,” says Adnan, adding the practice continues for the three days of Eid and is considered as brunch.
On the first day, he says, the event is hosted by the tribe’s eldest and is then followed by other elders of the tribe. “The same menu persists for all the three days,” he says.
The 50-year-old tradition is deemed vital to keep the family connected.
Eighty-year-old Sher Zamin Khan whose family has practiced the tradition for decades believes it helps strengthen the bond for the family.
“If there is any dispute between two families within the tribe, such gathering is used to resolve it,” Khan tells The Express Tribune.
Khan thinks the family system in Pakistani society needs to be encouraged through such practices.
There are other traditions which are practiced in other parts of K-P to bring families closer.
Rehmat Shah, resident of Tank district, shares that families in the district visit friends and families and taste whatever they have cooked.
“Tasting the food is seen as participating in the family’s joy and happiness,” says Shah.
In Khyber Agency, families slaughter animals to prepare a barbeque for guests visiting them over Eid.
A local journalist Sajid Kokikkhel says that male members of the family prepare the barbecue for the guests.
