Farida, 50, a housemaid, insists on taking a 15-day break in Ramazan even if it means sacrificing half of her monthly salary. Ignoring pandemic warnings, she is all set to scout across the city to capitalise on the generosity of her past employers and check distribution points of charities. “It takes stamina to run around and patience to wait in long queues. For the persistent ones, the end justifies the trouble. I collect edibles, clothes and cash collectively worth more than my two-month salary enough to afford some festivity at Eid,” she told Dawn. Farida, a widow is a mother of seven and grandmother of 12. Her husband, a construction worker, fell from a multi-storey and died a long time back. Only one of her three sons works as a kabari (trash dealer). One son died in a road accident and the eldest is mentally unstable. Three of her daughters are married. She supports the widow and two kids of her son, her firstborn and an unmarried daughter.