Fasting and feasting

 

 

FIROZ BAKHT AHMED

Commentator on religious

and social issues As Janmashtmi, Ramzan, Navaratra, Dussehra, Eid and Diwali, all show up almost in an orderly sequence, the Indian festive bonanza can be said to have begun already. It is said that “Ram-zan” has that glorious Ram while “Diw-Ali” has Ali. So the the air in the historic Shahjahanabadi Purani Dilli, Zakir Nagar and the trans-Yamuna Welcome Colony is all seeped in the glorious tradition of the city’s inter-faith harmony.

No matter what the religion, abstaining from food and water sets a context within which a person tries to establish God’s presence in his soul. Muslims, the world over, await Ramzan and make preparations for it every year. The month of fasting has always been a great time for them! In their daily life, they’re always struggling with the ideal of putting God first in every aspect of their existence. They know that God Alone should matter in their life.

It is a period when the faithful not only show piety and compassion but also try to send across a strong message of communal harmony among the compatriots and their poor brothers, especially in India.

The dargah of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti is revered amongst Muslims and Hindus alike. It is said that barren wombs sprout life and stubborn ailments disappear, when the faithful pray at the shrine. But it wasn’t this aspect that overwhelmed me about the shrine during the last Ramzan. It was that the iftari (food for breaking fast) was brought, and even shared, by Hindus living in the area. Accompanying me was Malini Khatri, a senior English teacher of Modern School, New Delhi who had come to Ajmer with her students for participating at a quiz at Mayo College.

It was indeed touching the way Sunil Dutt of Dilli Durbar Guest House at Ajmer was distributing the usual khajur (date palm), pakodis (savouries), kachalu (mixed fruit) and other such traditional iftari food to all at the shrine. Assisting him was Kamal Tilvani, another Sindhi hotel owner from Ajmer. At the time of iftar, some white-capped Muslims, turbanned non-Muslim Rajasthanis and also Sikhs sat at the shrine’s dastarkhwan (feast). In fact it was India at her best and of course India that actually is! During the month of Ramzan, as one walks past the mosques during the jama’at (prayer) time one can note the Godly presence and Ramzan ambience in the fully packed mosques. Perhaps no one is as attentive in prayer as these devouts during Ramzan and in the minutes the namaz is conducted every evening, a sort of calm steals over the otherwise traffic congested areas with dense Muslim population be it in Kolkata’s Colootola, Delhi’s Ballimaran, Mumbai’s Bhendi Bazaar or Pune’s Mominpura.

Temporary and crude eating arrangements are set up for the evening with tables laid with cheap plastic sheets and wooden chairs by the roadside offering tantalising food for feasting during this month. Of course, one can’t ignore the frenzied cacophony and the all pervasive aroma of mouth-watering Ramzan dishes being prepared in restaurants, on vendors’ pushcarts and even roadside squatters selling seekh kebab, qeema samosa, desi ghee jalebis, imartis, balushahis, etc. Shops with neatly stacked Ramzan sweets bustle with human activity. Grilled delicacies like chicken changezi, shaami kebab, naan, nargisi koftey, etc are all there to be gorged along with chana chhola, chane ki daal, etc providing a grand spirited and unique Ramzan flavour.

My mother, a wise old woman, once told me, “You need to sacrifice to achieve great things.” Ramzan fasting, not only to me, but to Muslims globally, is a reiteration of the same saying. The true meaning of fasting is to abstain from anything that distracts you from remembering of God. It is a proof of the love of the Almighty that each year he gives us a chance to undo the wrongs we have done.

The month of Ramzan brings multiplied blessings as good deeds are multiplied by 700 during this holy month, as opposed to the factor of 10 that usually applies. On the reverse side, it brings multiplied sins for those who do bad. The one who is fasting, is happy on two occasions — first, when he breaks his fast and second, when he offers namaz.

Ramzan also helps Muslims in their day-to-day situations. They can look past crises and say with the Quran that “Life of this world is but an illusion.” Once they have done their best, they should leave the rest to Him.