Hyderabadi Ramadan in Saudi Arabia

Mohammed Sadullah Khan. For the Yemen Times

Like many Hyderabadis, I had the opportunity to live and work in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has become a home away from home. Ramadan is the blessed month for Muslims and a time to earn great rewards. It is spiritually and physically the best month for Muslims. As Muslims follow the Hijrah (Lunar) calendar, which is shorter by 11 days as compared to Gregorian (Solar) Calendar. This allows the sliding of the Ramadan each year by 11 days and it comes in different seasons over a long period. This gives Muslims an opportunity to fast in different weather conditions. Saudi Arabia provides a conducive and congenial atmosphere for fasting and it is one of the best places for fasting.continue reading

Mohammed Sadullah Khan, is a Faculty Member and a Freelance writer based in Saudi Arabia and can be contacted at

mosakhan40@gmail.com.

On the same shelf:
Ramadan special: Iftar at Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad!


Kunal Vijayakar has 'Iftar' at Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad in this edition of 'The Foodie'.

In The Bazaars of Hyderabad, Revisited

Madhumita Gopalan's visualizations of the Lad Bazar and Charminar area during Ramadan (click here for other pictures):

"...I'll leave you with this poem by Sarojini Naidu called "In The Bazaars of Hyderabad", that beautifully describes the Charminar experience :)
What do you sell, O ye merchants ?
Richly your wares are displayed.
Turbans of crimson and silver,
Tunics of purple brocade,
Mirror with panels of amber,
Daggers with handles of jade.
What do you weigh, O ye vendors?
Saffron and lentil and rice.
What do you grind, O ye maidens?
Sandalwood, henna, and spice.
What do you call , O ye pedlars?
Chessman and ivory dice.
What do you make, O ye goldsmiths?
Wristlets and ankles and ring,
Bells for the feet of blue pigeons
Frail as a dragonfly's wing,
Girdles of gold for dancers,
Scabbards of gold for the king.
What do you cry, O ye fruitmen?
Citron, pomegranate, and plum.
What do you play, O ye magicians?
Spells for aeons to come.
What do you weave, O ye flowergirls
With tassels of azure and red?
Crowns for the brow of a bridegroom,
Chaplets to garland his bed,
Sheets of white blossoms new-garnered
To perfume the sleep of the dead."
--Sarojini Naidu

Another Blogger, Gautam Valluri's comment on the above poem:
"In The Bazaars of Hyderabad is a classic poem by Sarojini Naidu which I first read in school. Coincidentally, Sarojini Naidu was also a student of my school- St.George’s Grammar School, Hyderabad."

Hyderabad--another nightmare metropolis

It's turning out to be another nightmare metropolis, thanks to its most chaotic roads. Hyderabad is hardly destination tomorrow anymore. It's a get out of there today if you can sort of place.
Added to everything else, the city's under the grip of conjunctivitis right now, making life even more miserable for Hyderabadiz. And it shows no signs of abatement. The 'pink eye' is all over the place.
Equally pervasive is the presence of securitymen everywhere, because of Ramadan. The cops don't want to be caught unawares and intensive security is in place. Now you would expect citizens to be thankful to the police for this elaborate security cover. Yes, many of us cross our hearts and thank them for it. But then there are these habitual cribbers who grumble about too much 'security'. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Public places--parks, museums, malls and multiplexes aren't attracting the crowds they used to, till very recently. Let's only hope that the Ganesh immersion passes off peacefully.

HyderaBAD to worse

Don't read this morning's newspapers--all of them of them are full of the woes of being a HyderaBADi. Bad traffic, bad planning, bad governance and of course, bad excuses to cover them up.
Moving on to other things, the month of Ramadan will begin on Friday and for a month all roads leading to Charminar will be buzzing with activity, teeming with shoppers, mosques and shops lit up all over the old city in particular, while movement of traffic on our streets will remain as chaotic as ever, or even get a trifle more crowded at times.
Saturday's Ganesh Chaturthi is another major festival that is round the corner.
All that Hyderabadiz now hope is that the two--the ten-day festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi leading up to the 'visarjan' or immersion, and the month of praying and fasting, end peacefully.
Yes, getting home will still be a problem--the bikes, cars, buses and autos will take forever to move, but c'est la vie, if you're talking about Hyderabad, especially!
Ramadan mubarak and happy Ganesh Chaturthi to Hyderabadiz.