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2015, biryani, blessings, Children, deaths, Diaries, faith, food, heat wave, iftar, Islam, lemon, Muslims, Pakistan, ramadan, religion, rose syrup, rose water, sunrise, sunset, tandoor, tandoori, water
At work, the main topics of conversation were about the heat and food.
And in my classroom during tuition it’s no different. I had all the kids talk about what they were doing this Ramadan and I had them write it down to share with the class. And I will now share them with you:
I don’t like dates so I break my fast with a cookie
I can’t eat in the morning so I just have a banana
I make sure I brush my teeth so I don’t get bad breath
Eid will be fun coz of all the money
Coke is all I eat and drink!
I have something healthy miss! Mum gives me toast with nutella!
My dad’s trying to quit smoking. But sometimes he smells when he comes back from praying.
I dream about food at night time.
And many more interesting comments. What they all focused on later was how their families ate the typical Asian fried stuff but that they didn’t like it! Apart from wanting dessert, they pretty much said they hardly ate what was made at iftar and would prefer something lighter. I was so proud of them and told them how they are being smarter by avoiding such foods.
And then for Day 13 (Tuesday) I come home to find my sister round and a massive pot of biryani! Turns out dad really wanted it, so he made it. Which meant my sister contributed by bringing chicken leg pieces to marinate and make tandoori out of. I really can’t run away from it, can I 
Come Day 14: it’s the hottest day in the year (so far as predictions go) with it already hitting 31degrees by 11am and you really do feel it! I was already sleeping with the window open for 2-3 days. But in the night there was no breeze. My fan was spinning hot air so I didn’t use it. Just wore light and slept as best I could. Then went into work to find the college in a terrible state; not all rooms had AC so you walk into places and it’s as good as a sauna! Luckily, my office had the AC so we put it on full blast and got on with work. I didn’t step out of the office till home time at 4pm. I left the room and was greeted with the heat slapping me in the face. So I went home and found all the fans out and the family doing this:
Everything in the house was warm. The glass, sink, the budgies were unsettled and their water was warm (yulch). My coconut oil went from solid to liquid overnight; you would think someone had swapped it for water in the jar O_O
So I thought we would have that sandwich iftar I’ve wanted for some time. But no. We still had leftovers from the day before, so I had to contribute my belly in helping to finish it off.
But that night of all nights with the temperature being 35 degrees, I didn’t want to overdo it on food. So I made a drink using 1.5 L of fridge water: rose syrup with lemon (the red one):
The plan was to focus on drinking that and eating less.
My body thanked me for it later because everyone complained of feeling very full and very warm. But I was fine 😀 However, I did share a cornetto with my brother at midnight so that helped too.
The whole day put into perspective how tough it is for those living in the East. Already there have been over 1,200 deaths in the heat wave that hit Pakistan. And these were fasting people who had no aid of fans during power cuts. 
We actually had a burst water pipe for roughly 10 hours. In the morning the family made sure to fill every empty jug and pot with water. I come home to find the kitchen crowded with metal pots and realise that they must have stopped the water for the repair job. This is what you can call being a Suburban Scout; you don’t need to be out in the wilderness to earn badges, we suburbans still have our issues too!
It was like being back-home in Bangladesh where some of my relatives live like this daily. They don’t have taps in the house so it’s a case of getting water from the pump outside by using buckets. It meant those in the family who usually waste water were thrown into deep thought as they used the pots of water more consciously.
I’m very grateful for all I have and all I take for granted. It’s been a tough Ramadan with long days, but it’s never really as bad as it all seems.
macenachan 