Ramidan & Iftar

Ramidan started early Friday morning the 14th. During Ramidan, Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset (about 6pm). Instead of the 5 times of prayer, there are 6 times of prayer - the extra prayer time comes after breaking their fast at Iftar. Usually prayers are done individually, except for Friday afternoon prayers when everyone gathers at the mosque. During Ramidan (or Ramzan) - the prayer after Iftar is conducted communally at the mosque where the holy man reads a chapter and one quarter from the Koran. The Koran is read in it's entirety by the end of the Ramidan month, and the Eid celebration begins.

According to what I understand from my driver - it is very important for Muslims to fast and pray during the Ramidan month. If you pray faithfully, then Allah will reward you. Those Muslims who do not follow the holy laws during Ramidan will be punished. A portion of the Koran is the same as the First Testament of the Bible. So the story of Noah's Ark is included in the Koran. Nehu (as Noah is called) was the only Muslim who followed the path of Allah. He was told to choose 40 couples who were believers and to take them on his boat far far away while Allah punished the unfaithful with the rains and the floods. (Including Nehu's unfaithful son and his family.)

My normally mild mannered driver becomes quite fanatic when explaining religious practices to me. One day several months ago, he asked me about my religion. He didn't like that I replied that I'm agnostic - believing in some kind of "powers that be" without following one religious path or the other. He told me, "Miss Terrina, you need to choose!". He was quite concerned for my spiritual well being.

Don't get me wrong - he's not scary fanatical...just quite religious and believes very strongly in his religion. He's a very good man and he takes his job very seriously - he doesn't like for me to ride rickshaws or CNGs if he is available to drive me. Last night, we had pizza and beer at a karaoke place in Banani to celebrate Nate's birthday. I rarely go out with him, so he made me promise to stay out with them the entire evening. (Thursday night, they stayed out until 3am - I went home at 11pm.)

So - I was telling Monu that he could go home after dropping us off at the Karaoke place at 8pm that evening. He asked me, "How are you getting home?" I said - "I don't know, rickshaw or CNG." He was quiet for a bit, thinking. Then he asked, "What time will you be going home?" I replied, "I don't know, quite late - you know Nathan likes to stay out pretty late. Last night, he stay out until 3am." (It's horrible, but I revert to a very poor English speaking style when conversing with the local staff. I'm not setting a good example for good English - but they understand me better.)

Then Monu asked, "Why must you stay out so late with them?" Then I explained that it was Nate's birthday and that I had promised to stay out. Monu insisted on waiting for me to drive me home because it was safer for him, as a Bangladeshi man, to travel at night - than it was for me, a foreign woman. (Which is true.) But I promised that I wasn't going to carry a purse out or anything. He continued to insist until I promised to take a rickshaw to Tatiana's house instead and spend the night. (She lives very close to the Karoke place.) I ended up getting a ride from a new friend, Julia Jung. Monu asked me this morning how I got home. =)

Back to the original subject =) The mood and overall atmosphere in Bangladesh is quite festive. Many restaurants set up tables selling special foods for Iftar and other restaurants have special "all you can eat" Iftar buffets. (Even Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken!) Traditional Iftar foods include a lot of fried items, curried chickpeas and puffed rice.

My driver told me to check out the Iftar table on Friday evening when we were finishing my errands for the day. It was crowded with people buying food to break their fasts.

(towards the front of the picture) Singara - fried chickpea dough filled with curried potatoes. Yummy carb loaded treats!

Dahl (lentils cooked with garlic, onion and chilis) is sold in terra cotta pots. You can buy local style yogurt in the same earthenware containers. Very eco-friendly! Do you see how huge that pot of dahl is?!!

Seeing all the Iftar tables set up all around town makes everything so festive and it's a lot of fun to watch the people and see the different types of food.