Ramadan

Come Ramadan, and I am drifted back to the evening Iftar parties we used to go for...We had Muslim family friends who invited us for it...It was at their home. As people entered the house, there were cordial 'Ramadan Mubarak' greeting exchanges with the host. We could see people doing rounds serving Rooh Afzah and dates. During a day in Ramadan, people eat once before the sunrise. The meal is called 'seheri' and it is generally had at home with family. After the seheri, people fast the entire day and the idea is that the fast should be broken by eating dates during Iftar (the evening meal that is). After the dates, there used to be an elaborate buffet meal laid out. It usually consisted of a variety of non vegetarian dishes like chicken kababs, gosht biriyanis, haleem and chicken curries. The smile on everyone's famished faces even as the food was being spread out was worth the watch. While the non-vegetarians used to binge on their meal, we were happy scarfing out on the yummy jalebis, samosas, veg biriyani, paneer delicacies and raita.

The delectable 'sevai ki kheer' with lots of dryfruits and nuts was my all time favourite. Once the meal was done, people left after a final round of leave-taking pleasantries...

As a kid, I waited for Iftar just for the kheer. But on second thoughts, it serves as a perfect example of communal harmony and a reminder that any religion is a code of conduct, which eventually terminates at the same place.