Back when my age was eight or nine, Eid holidays spanned from 15 days to a month, and not a single day of my "holiday" was hotchpotch, which we experience now. 

Those were the good time to relax, wake up late, tumbling into bed. It was around 1996 or 97 when I used to flit like a bird. I then had lots of exciting plans with cousins ahead of every Eid holiday, unlike now stand beside roadside areas and restaurants and get busy in ‘Addas’ (Chitchat).

Nowadays Eid seems lifeless, there’s no humorous moment to feel. In 90's we used to feel our house was a piece of heaven. Family members including us (children) passed unforgettable moments. Those were the quality time when none of my demands were left unfulfilled.

My first demand before every Eid was to ride back on my father’s motorcycle, go to the ‘bazaar’ and buy ‘Chacha Chowdhury' ‘Teen Goyenda’ and used to show off to my cousins. However, definitely I was a huge fan of 90’s comic books, I mostly used to enjoy reading adventure stories back then. 

My father had a motorcycle named ‘Xingfu’, this bike serviced him for 25 years. I used to love the sound of that bike. On Eid day I mostly used to play sitting on that bike, though I couldn’t ride. In those days we 90’s kid was a big fan of Sindbad, Alif Laila, Moogli, Tarzan, MacGyver and WWE. Back then Bangladesh had only a television channel named BTV. 

With the rising sun, each day of my holiday I used to come up with several ways to escape my house as my local bhai’s (Brothers) and Mama’s (Friend but Uncle) used to wait for my cricket bat, I then used to have the best and the costliest cricket bat in my area. After I go the match used to start. The match was between two ‘Para’s’ (Area). Then these were the only mode of entertainment.

Looking back, I realize those were the golden days of my life, through a series of books, playing cricket, waiting for the Tv series to air on BTV, and several demands on my parents. Memories created in my childhood are associated with these staff. I remember Ammu (Mother) had once beaten me for going to Meghna River with local guys riding cycles just before Eid; I recall Abbu (Father) was so strict, that our cousins including me were afraid of him. I have stacked my life the way I stacked my childhood activities: ’90s kids can only relate to my words. Memories that are not erasable. 

Writer: Sifat Kabir, Journalist, and Researcher 

BDST: 1619 HRS, JUL 18, 2022
MSK/SMS