‘I believe in the traditional approach to end my fast’

The first Iftar invitation I received was from work colleagues for a work related Iftar. It was nice to spend time with people who were also fasting, and understanding their time throughout Ramadan. It appears everyone finds something different from the experience of Ramadan. Some find it very difficult with the physical aspects of the process, where others find that the discipline of behaviour and emotions as the difficult part. Coming from a background of psychology, I find it fascinating how we individually cope with the situations we are in, and the way each of us deal with the challenges of Ramadan is one of those situations.

The second Iftar I was invited to was a couple of days back at the Palace Hotel Downtown. While waiting for the time of Iftar I saw on the restaurant TV, that the Dubai Police were also waiting to mark Iftar with the firing of the cannon. Just as the clock was approaching the time, they loaded the cannon, the TV paused just at the time it was due to go off, leaving the camera pointing at the Captain in mid shout. However, I didn’t have to wait for long as the Iftar was confirmed by actually hearing the massive boom from the cannon that sounded it was just outside the restaurant.

The one thing I find at buffet Iftar meals is the large selection in front of you, with rows and rows of food. Your eyes grow wide and your stomach growls. It’s like a child in a candy store ‘I’ll have one of those…. And one of that…..and this too!!’ by which time you have a massive plate of an assortment of food. When looking at the plate it looked like a mash up of Arabic, Indian, Asian and Western food. A bit of sushi, with steak and potatoes on one side, covered with hummus, and a chicken tikka portion. Now, this is infusion to the maximum. The disappointment during this time is that there seems to be a connection between how big your eyes grown and how small your stomach shrinks.

In the end I believe I will not go to many Iftar buffets at restaurants this year, as I believe in a more traditional approach of opening a fast with small and steady meal, with those close to you, to share the moments of the day and spiritual journey you have gone through. Through these moments we truly get to reflect on our connection to Allah.