Eid Mubarak wishes for your family

Six messages you could actually send

Continue writing opens that message in the card with the words already in it, so all that is left is to change a word and send it. The last message is the longest of the six, and it is the only one you have to copy across yourself.

1. Eid Mubarak to everyone at home. Missing the whole day, not just the food, though the food is a large part of it. Tell everyone I asked after them and send me the group photo before the light goes. Wishing all of you an easy, happy year.

   Continue writing with message 1

2. Eid Mubarak to all of you. Hope the house fills up early, nobody's in a hurry to leave, and somebody makes the lot of you sit down and eat before the day disappears. Keep something sweet aside. I'll collect it when I next land.

   Continue writing with message 2

3. Eid Mubarak to the whole house. Thank you for the year, and for every phone call that came at exactly the right time without my asking. Hope today is long and crowded and slow. Next Eid I'm at the table properly, not on a screen. ✨

   Continue writing with message 3

4. Eid Mubarak to everyone. I'm assuming the cooking started at dawn, three people are already arguing about who's eating whose share, and the sewaiyan will be gone by afternoon. Some things don't change. Hope the day goes beautifully for all of you.

   Continue writing with message 4

5. Eid Mubarak. It's a normal working day here, which makes this the one day of the year the distance is properly noticeable. I keep thinking about nobody being allowed to eat until every last person had arrived. Missing all of you today.

   Continue writing with message 5

6. Eid Mubarak to everyone at home. It's a normal working day here, which is what makes this the one day of the year the distance is properly noticeable. I keep thinking about nobody being allowed to start until the last person had arrived, and how long that always took. Save something sweet. Next year I'm at the table.

   Copy

Writing your own

Miss the noise, not just the food. Everybody away from home says they miss the biryani. Missing the kitchen at eleven in the morning, or the room being too full, is the version that sounds like a person rather than a caption.

Give them one instruction. Send the group photo, tell everyone I asked after them. It turns the card into a small exchange, and the family gets to do something with it rather than just receive an apology.