MUSCAT : Some people may disagree, but a majority of the people The Arabian Stories spoke to confirmed that the full lockdown during the Eid Al Adha holidays has helped to strengthen their relationships with family.

Though Oman ended the full lockdown on Saturday, there have been positive consequences, including, for many families, more time for meals together, conversations, games, and movie nights.

“The lockdown has given people a chance to deepen relationships and create new rituals together. We’ve loved the time together,” said Asma Moosa Al Lawati, Head of Public Relations at Royal Hospital.

The Supreme Committee declared a four-day Eid Al Adha lockdown amidst rising COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country. “With all the negativity that’s happening around us, life has come to a standstill. But surprisingly, we enjoyed the Eid lockdown as it gave us our good-old family time back. We played games and watched some old classic movies,” Asma said with a beaming smile.

For Salma Mohamed Ibrahim, an Omani housewife residing in Al Wadi Al Kabir, the four-days of lockdown gave her family a reason to find time for each other. “Even during the previous Eid holidays, we never really got time to spend together because everyone was busy. For the first time after several years, we got an opportunity to be together and it happened during this lockdown period,” Salma said.

“Day was long because you have to be inside the house the entire lockdown period,” Salma admitted. “But we tried to pass it smoothly. With our children, we had an open discussion on many things about life, we did some shopping online for family and yes, we also made our traditional dish called Dhokly,” said an excited Salma.

Captain Nabhan Hamed Rashid Al Harthy of SalamAir cooked the traditional Omani Shuwa in a pressure cooker inside his home kitchen. “For us preparing Shuwa during Eid is a celebration and its the Omani tradition but for the first time, we made it inside our home in a pressure cooker,” Al Harthy laughed.

For expat businessman Rakesh Nair, the lockdown made him realise the importance of togetherness. “Usually, all of us are busy even when we meet at the dining table, we are so busy with our mobile phones. There are no open conversations happening and this time we made sure to keep away our phones and stay together and spend some quality time,” Nair said.

While, the full-day lockdown has come to an end, the evening movement ban on individuals and vehicles, including closure of commercial activities will continue between 5pm to 4am until July 31