FIROZ BAKHT AHMED takes the reader through Delhi’s streets in a season where midnight bazaars and feasting change the definition of after hours
It’s 7.12 pm and the sirens are booming from Bhendi Bazaar’s Jama Masjid, Jama Masjid of Bengaluru, Rehmani Masjid of Zakir Nagar in South Delhi, Kolkata’s Masjid Nakhuda, and in all Muslim areas all over India. The time is sunset, time to break the roza — a fast that is kept for Allah.
The cherished moment at sunset is called iftar, a time of bliss when families reunite at home after a hard day. Iftar evenings are eagerly looked forward to by one and all for the camaraderie, shopping and satisfying the palate.
Frankly speaking, the Ramzan ambience is the same in all the old cities — Bhendi Bazaar of Mumbai, Sabzi Bagh of Patna, Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad, Kolutola of Kolkata, Mehdi Bagh of Pune, Dubhaiji ka Khura in Jaipur, Bhaga Talab at Surat and Channam Pilli Bazaar of Bangalore.
According to Maulana Riazur Rehman Rashshadi, imam and eminent Islamic scholar of Jama Masjid, Bangalore, the holy month of Ramzan is auspicious to Muslims the world over. It is celebrated the day after the crescent for the 10th lunar month of the Islamic calendar is sighted. Muslims are ordained to observe fast for 30 days, starting with the sighting of the new moon and ending it after seeing the new moon the next month.
Feasting and fasting during the month of Ramzan is a common practice throughout the globe, states Muneer Ahmed Adil, editor, Salar Urdu daily, Bangalore. It’s no different in my native city, Delhi, a city with a 350-year old history of mixed tradition where all festivals are celebrated with equal gusto and enthusiasm.
Renowned Muslim scholar and writer, Dr Aziz Burney, added that the temple bells in Delhi alternate with the devout muazzin’s (caretaker) call from the mosques’ minarets. The tradition of tolerance towards each other’s faith still runs high in the walled city of Delhi’s Shahjahanabad and areas like Zakir Nagar, Noor Nagar, Welcome Colony in trans Yamuna area etc.
During the month of Ramzan, as one walks past the mosques during the jama’at (prayer) one can note the godly presence and the festive ambience in fully-packed mosques, which otherwise have sparse devotees. Perhaps, no one is as attentive during prayer as these devouts in Ramzan. A sort of calm steals over the otherwise traffic-congested areas with dense Muslim population. The best fair during Ramzan is the food! Temporary eating arrangements are set up, with tables laid with plastic sheets and wooden chairs by roadside, offering tantalizing food in the evening during this month. The lights that illuminate the mosques make the Ramzan ambience more graceful.
Just enter the lane of any Muslim area during Ramzan before iftaar and you will be led by the aroma of mouth-watering dishes like Murgh Changezi, Nargisi Koftey, Qorma, Shami Kawab, Badshahi Badam Pasande, Murgh Jahangiri, Chicken Akbari, Karhai Gosht, Tikka Ajwaini, Aatish Pasande, Qeeme ki Golian, Qalmi Bade, longcha Kawab etc.
Thick meat broth, or yakhni, is prepared during Ramzan month for giving strength. To cook the dish, whole spices are not added directly but wrapped and tied in muslin cloth (potli) and dipped into the broth. After the aroma of the spices has been absorbed by the meat and rice, the potli is taken out and rice is cooked on a slow coal fire.
Of course, one can’t ignore the costermongers kicking up a frenzied cacophony while there are all-pervasive aromas of Ramzan dishes being prepared in restaurants, on vendors’ pushcarts and even roadside squatters selling seekh kebab, qeema samosa, desi ghee jalebis, imartis, balushahis etc. Shops with neatly stacked Ramzan sweets bustle with human activity. Grilled delicacies like chicken changezi, shaami kebab, naan, nargisi koftey etc. are all there to be gorged along with chana chhola, chane ki daal etc.
Those having a sweet tooth during Ramzan will find sweets being prepared with aromatic flavours in Sheerin Bhawan at Matia Mahal, Standard Sweets at Hauz Qazi, Vishal Mawa Bhanda, Tewari Sweets, Ghantewala, Shiv Mishthan Bhandar, Jalebiwala and Haldi Ram at Chandni Chowk during the time of iftar in Old Delhi. In a city with no shopping destinations open through the night (Connaught Place closes by 9 pm, Khan Market by 8 pm, Karol Bagh by 10 pm. Pacific Mall turns off the lights at 11 pm), Ramzan’s special bazaars are like oases on an otherwise smooth, dry highway.
Those who live in South Delhi may not have to go all the way to Purani Dilli. Just cross New Friends Colony and you’ll find yourself in Zakir Nagar and Jamia Nagar. Fussy ladies will find much to content themselves with at the garment stores at Batla House: cotton salwar suits, chikan work from lucknow and kurtas with intricate gota work. A store called Fashion Gallery at Jogabai Extension in Okhla sells designer kurtas ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000. The other popular garment shops for Eid shopping are Golden Garments, Sufia Cloth House, Cross India.
Mohammed Faisal of Shaan Cap House in Basti Nizamuddin said that caps are in great demand. There are at least 1,000 varieties of caps like Alif, Farooque, Bukis and Damishq.
After shopping, try the famous chawal ki kheer of Pehelwan Bhai on the main road of Zakir Nagar beside the area’s Jama Masjid. Don’t skip Mubashshir Mian’s Unique Bakery, which has meethi double roti and bun, specially made for the Ramzan season. If it’s almost sehri time (the last meal before daybreak, if you are keeping roza), take a detour to the nearby Javed’s restaurant to end the “day” with their delectable nahari —an early morning dish prepared with boneless meat, 16 spices and condiments.
Zakir Nagar, Matia Mahal, Ballimaran, Chooriwalan and Jama Masjid are also about pajamas, jeans, jootis, bed sheets and even jewellery. Shops like Amaan Garments and Fashion Zone stock not only ready-made cargo trousers, T-shirts, track pants, and kids-wear but also stitch these. Prices range from Rs 100 to Rs 500. Bargain is the watch word. Though these shops, too, remain open quite late into the night, I suggest that if you want to buy clothes, come when the night is still young. I’m told that these are still early days of Ramzan, and night-long shopping would take place only after 15th roza.
After all this euphoria, Muslims must take care that Ramzan, instead, has become a season for culinary competition, gluttony and wasteful consumption.
It becomes a period when the faithful do not only show piety and compassion but also try to send across a strong message of communal harmony among the compatriots and their poor brothers.
(The author is the Chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University and the grandnephew of Maulana Azad)