RAMZAN IN THE TIME OF LOCKDOWN: Staying home is biggest service we can do for our nation this Ramzan

The masjids are closed, iftar gatherings are banned and even hugging people is not allowed. It’s a ramzan like never before

—

Manawwar Ali Muqtasar

, Dakhni humourist

The road leading up to the iconic

Charminar

, otherwise milling with crowds during Ramzan, wears a deserted look due to the ongoing lockdown

I first heard the word ‘quarantine’ from my father. Many would be surprised to know that an iconic landmark of Hyderabad — Koranti Dawakhana aka

Correnti

Hospital of Nallakunta — derives its name from the term. I was barely six or seven years old when my father regaled me with the story of how the hospital was the first isolation facility commissioned to combat a spate of communicable diseases that erupted in the aftermath of the Musi Floods in the early 20th century. Like most old Hyderabadis, I’ve grown up on stories of how patients would be treated in beds set up under makeshift tents in what was then the outskirts of the city. Who’d have expected that ‘quarantine’ would come back to haunt us over a hundred years later.

I was born in

Hussaini Alam

locality of Charminar and lived there till 2011, before we moved to Kishan Bagh. In all my life, never have I seen Old City as deserted as it is today, especially during Ramzan. I certainly never imagined we’d be spend the month of Ramzan in lockdown. The mosques, which used to be brimming with people are closed, the prayers are all being offered at homes, iftar gatherings are banned, even hugging people isn’t allowed... it’s a Ramzan like never before.

The coronavirus pandemic has left the whole world in disarray. Life seems to have done a somersault and there seems to be no end in sight. It is an unprecedented crisis no doubt, and it’s imperative that we get through it together. Staying at home and doing nothing is the biggest service we can do for our country this Ramzan, not just for ourselves but for our family and country as a whole during this holy month.

A meme that a good friend of mine, RJ Mamta Narula, sent me really struck a chord. When someone asks a housewife what her husband does to give her a helping hand, she says, ‘Every evening he claps for me for five minutes...’ That’s all the motivation she needs (laughs). This is the time for us all to do whatever we can to egg each other on and get through these trying times. Insaniyat hi humara sabse bada dharam hai is waqt. In this holy month, let us all pledge to do tauba (penance) not just for ourselves, but for the well-being of all of mankind. Together, we will overcome Covid-19.