Ramzan: Sullen mood turns solemn

Md A Basith / TNN / Sep 25, 2006, 02:21 IST

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The new moon was not sighted on the 29th of Shaaban on Saturday, but leaders of the community decreed that Ramzan shall begin from Monday anyway.

HYDERABAD: After months of tension arising out of security checks and terror strikes posing questions of identity, Old City residents are going into the month of Ramzan with a sense of relief.
The new moon was not sighted on the 29th of Shaaban on Saturday, but leaders of the community decreed that Ramzan shall begin from Monday anyway.
The sullen mood has given way to the solemn as people braced up for a month of fasting and reflection on the word of the Prophet.
Even on the eve of Ramzan on Sunday, mosques in the Old City bustled with the solemn shuffle of the early faithful streaming in for the taraveeh prayers, which begin after the Ramzan moon is sighted.

It begins a month of austerity and abstinence, when all tempers are reined in and attention is turned to matters of faith and being.
Mosques have already appointed hafez to lead the prayers and several have gone in for a facelift. The prayer halls are being cleaned and washed and the plumbing is being repaired.
The old jaanamaz (namaz carpets) are being replaced with new, and Korans and Yaaseen-e-Shareef are being arranged for the laity.

All over the Old City are signs of a community preparing for a welcome break from secular concerns.
At the Begumpet airport, flocks of expatriates are returning to the city from the Gulf countries for a month of quality time with the family.
Most NRIs in the Gulf time their annual vacation to coincide with Ramzan. The return of these natives lends a festive air to the Old City all through the month.
"I visit home every Ramzan. I love the feeling of being with my family during saher and iftar," says Mohammed Mohtesham Ali, Riyadh-based engineer and Moghalpura native. "I look forward to Ramzan the whole year. My children just won't accept my absence at this time come what may."
While Ramzan is a month of abstinence, it's also a prelude to the Id-ul-Fitr, when the Old City explodes in a celebration. Preparatory to this, traders in every casbah and mohalla are stocking up to meet demand.
In Begumbazar and Ranigunj, wholesale shops are teeming with shop-keepers placing bulk orders for everything from khajoor to readymade clothes to fancy slippers.
"Everything I have has been taken," said Ghanshyam Bhati, a Begumbazar trader. "But shop-keepers just won't take no for an answer. It's Ramzan after all."

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