Srinagar, May 27 -- By Mohammad Ilyas Bhat

Last year, on the first day of Eid, I walked through my neighbourhood with a friend when a firecracker exploded right in front of us.

Some boys had placed a tin box over it. The metal shot straight into my friend's knee. He bent down in pain while the boys laughed and disappeared into a nearby lane before anyone could stop them.

That scene said a great deal about what Eid has become in many places.

Newspapers still publish the same headline almost every year: "Eid celebrated with fervour and fanfare." Those words sound familiar, though they miss the heart of the festival.

Crowded markets, endless shopping, fireworks and traffic jams now dominate public attention. The deeper meaning of Eid re...