My first Ramadan in Dubai has come and gone, and it has been an experience! Eating, drinking, smoking and even chewing gum in public is prohibited. Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, companies cut down work hours at least 2 hours every day, and there is a sense of control over everything.
All eating places (ones that open) block themselves out from public view.
While in the topic of control, I did try out one day of fasting (for the company Iftaar, or event for breaking the fast), and that really changed the way I looked at this whole exercise. I do consider myself one of those rare ones who can easily de-prioritize food in the daily scheme of things. In fact, for most of the day I was fine, but somewhere around 5PM, I realised how difficult it was starting to get.
Had I been fasting without my active knowledge (which my friends from NTU would vouch for), it would have been easy, but conciously suppressing the urge to eat, that’s really something! Anyways, in the end, along came sun-down, and it was Iftaar, or breaking of fast. It is a different thing that I didnt end up going for the company event (there was a small India-Pakistan T20 World Cup final that kept me home glued to the TV!), but the purpose of the exercise was met.
What you would realise is the value of self-control, and some perspective on how life is if you are less fortunate. Not surprisingly, charity drives like Dubai Cares collect millions of dirhams (in fact, already reaching the Billion Dirham mark, I think!) of honest contributions. That’s much more than you can ever imagine from ‘holier-than-thou’ nations of the west, or India/Singapore that I have experienced.
Now that the month is over, it actually feels a bit weird being able to eat and drink in public!
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