Aasif Sheikh: Is baar, tyohaar par raunak wapas aa gayi hai!

Two years after back-to-back lockdowns, due to the on-going pandemic, actor Aasif Sheikh is excited to host his friends and relatives again on Eid.

“The last two years, during Eid, I offered namaz at home as we were under a lockdown. I live at the edge of Yaari Road in Mumbai, where the actual market begins, so we missed that hustle-bustle. We used to sit at the window and watch the deserted streets. Otherwise, guests used to stream in since morning. This time, we are excited to friends and relatives again,” he says.

He went on a night out to Bhendi Bazaar with his family. “It was amazing to see that zindagi normal hai aur gaadi patri par aa gayi hai. I savoured a lot of delicacies along with my wife, Zeba and son, Alyjah. The biggest joy was that do saal jo humne guzrein hain, us haalat se is baar tyohaar par raunak wapas aa gayi hai.”

Sheikh recalls his days in his ancestral haveli, in Varanasi, where they used to host 100s of people at a time. “In our home in Delhi, it used to be a full-day dining affair. My father and mother’s ancestral place is Varanasi, and I remember mega celebrations at our dadaji’s haveli. We had a big joint family and then their relatives and friends so bahut hungama hota tha. There used to be dastarkhwan of 25-30 people we did not knew who is coming and savouring…bas caravan chalta rehta tha. Those days of the early ’80s are still vivid in my memory. Now, the celebrations have gone very nuclear,” he says.

The Bhabji Ghar Par Hain actor says that he is not able to fast regularly. “Since I am working all days, so I am not able to keep roza… as it is I am just haddi-aur-chamda (thin) so it’s very tough. I do keep roza when I am not working but due to a few medical conditions could not keep it this time. The immense heat wave made fasting even tougher especially for those who are out working under the sun.”

Due to the pandemic, the actor misses the bonhomie at the sets. “The pandemic is still on and we are hearing cases are rising again. So, we are not allowing outsiders, else we used to have good fun and iftaar parties on the set. Hope, everything becomes normal once again.”