Covid-19 is a lot of things. It’s a killer, a destroyer of industries…but it’s also made some things better. With all the restrictions we’ve been under for the past two years, a lot of things have changed when it comes to traditions.
With Deepavali celebrations going on yesterday, I was suddenly struck by how traditions have changed under Covid-19. It’s made me appreciate family more.
As a Malay Muslim, one of the traditions for Hari Raya is visiting relatives. With Covid-19 in the picture, that’s not a feasible option. Yeah, you can visit immediate family, but everybody else? Too troublesome.
You don’t know how happy that’s made me.
No more buses of people rampaging into the house with rude kids who only want green packets. I’m not joking one bit. My extended family (on my grandmother’s side) were nuts.
They literally hired private buses and swarmed homes like locusts. NOBODY they visited was happy about it but what can you do? They’re family…as if that’s an acceptable excuse.
Not only was it a major annoyance (try entertaining 30 – 40 people at once), it was hell cleaning after them.
What makes it even more irritating is that these people are the type of relatives you only see once a year. They don’t reach out or make any effort to remain in contact otherwise. They’re worse than two-faced friends who are nice to you to your face then stab you in the back when you turn around.
They’d come around every damn year before Covid-19…and every damn year, I’d be dreading it.
Now? No more visits.
Hari Raya is finally a reserved affair, one that’s spent with immediate family.
I reckon it’s the same for other races too.
It’s great isn’t it? It feels like we’re finally returning back to the roots of these festivals. Not the overblown commercialized crap we’ve been subjected to. I swear, as the years go on, everything gets more and more commercialized.
Kuih Raya (those Hari Raya snacks) used to be a personal affair, with families usually making their own.
Now? You buy them from supermarkets or online and that’s it. It’s so impersonal. With Covid-19, my family’s back to making our own goodies to share between ourselves.
While I can’t wait for Covid-19 to be eradicated, I know I’ll miss it whenever Hari Raya rolls around and everything’s back to how it was before.