Girls go shopping for jewellery at New Market on Thursday afternoon. Pictures by Pabitra Das

Come Monday and students will get busy spending a holiday the way they know best — celebrating a festival. And for Id that means indulging in the essentials of the festival whole-heartedly.

It starts with selecting a fitting look for the day. The young men would be seen in chic white kurta pyjama. But some might even go the experimental way and try out a embroidered coloured kurta or a bandhgala. Manyavar, Gatha, Fabindia house a promising collection.

Many would be seen crowding Colootola Street near Nakhoda Masjid, which remains chock-a-block with shops stocking a wide range of kurtas, churidars and salwars. It is also worth a visit for those ready to brave the crowd to get a feel of the festive preparations.

“Those who prefer stitched fabrics choose The Grand Street as their destination as you get the best materials and fabric there,” says Ehteshamul Haque, a postgraduate student of Jadavpur University.

Mutton Halim

The women definitely have a longer list than men, like for every other festival. Churidars and lehngas, jootis and jewellery, there are so many ways for the dames to deck up. Treasure Island, Pantaloons, Shagun on Theatre Road and Fabindia are the obvious choices when it comes to the traditional churidar-kurti with dupattas or patiala suits which are indispensable for the entire month of Ramazan and also the Id celebrations.

“It can also be a boutique or a stitched set from the local darzi,” says Surendranath College student Benazir Ajmal, thoroughly excited about the big day. “The hawkers at New Market and Gariahat offer quite an irresistible collection,” she says.

“It is the SALE season,” adds Humera Bhutia, an international relations student from JU who has already stocked up on Id accessories from Shoppers’ Stop.

If you’ve done the traditional look for years and want a festive makeover, try the harem pants-kurti combination for a modern twist to your Id get-up. The shops in Sudder Street are a good option.

For both men and women, Bata, Mochi and Kolhapuri Centre are the places to shop for jootis and nagras, which not only complement but also complete the traditional look. If they are burning a hole right through your pocket, head for the Treasure Island lane in New Market and a line of Kolhapuri shoe shops will greet you with prices ranging from Rs 350 to Rs 550.

Shopping is no fun without the haggling

While the day of Id is spent visiting families and tucking into homemade festive delights, for the brat pack, the day isn’t quite complete without a trip to the movie theatre with friends for the now annual Salman Khan release.

This time he has delivered another biggie: Ek Tha Tiger, which also brings back the superhit Salman-Katrina Kaif pair.

“I am grateful to Salman Khan for delivering a blockbuster every Id and making it a bigger celebration,” smiles Benazir.

If it’s not shopping, eating out is the way to go. Biryani, Halim, Firni, Sevai...

Arsalan tops the Biryani destination list, followed by Shiraz and Haji Saheb (Behala). On the Firni map, India Restaurant (Kidderpore) figures quite prominently. Also, one must not leave without a spoonful of the king of desserts, the Shahi Tukra, from India Restaurant or Sabir’s (Machuabazar).

The Ramazan special, however remains, Mutton Halim. “I end up having Halim at least five to 10 times this time of the year,” says Abhijit Bhattacharya, an MBA student at the Institute of Engineering and Management.

Halim is best had with Biryani or Roomali Roti and costs Rs 90 a plate at Arsalan. With the Mutton Biryani coming for Rs 105, it is a meal that one shouldn’t miss for the world. Make sure to hit the eating addresses before 7pm if you don’t want to hear “khatam ho gaya” (it’s over)!

“Halim has such a unique taste and teaming it with Biryani just makes my day. Wrap it up with Sevai and it’s just yum!” smiles Tirthankar Biswas of JU.

We couldn’t agree more!

Text: Roshni Ali, Shrestha Saha, Indrani Banerjee and Shounak Majumder