Embracing the spirit of Ramadan

Praveen Kottavathil is a friend, a dreamer and a hero who was honoured — among a few selected residents for making a positive change in the UAE — with a picture of his lovely family in the Expo 2020s UAE Pavilion centred on the theme — “The Land of Dreamers Who Do,” for turning his backyard into a lush green kitchen garden that now gives a bounty of fresh organic produce.

An amazing storyteller who can bring a story to life in vivid detail in his mother tongue, he took us back to a day when he was 24 and living in a small village in the South Indian state of Kerala. It was just another day when he met with some of his friends — Riyaz, Nawaz and Faizal — who were enthusiastically talking about preparing for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan.

He had curiously observed their conversations and plans, but couldn’t decipher how a month-full of fasting and prayer could be one that they were enthusiastically looking forward to. It had been a casual question of whether he could join them, and they readily agreed.

A few thoughtful moments after it sunk in, he had expressed his doubts on whether he would be able to carry it through the day for an entire month. They urged him to join them and that they would be happy to render all their support.

He clearly remembers that the first day was the toughest. By the third day, his body and mind had synched in to the new routine. He was living a new way of life, where instead of a day that was engaged in work between three meals and several cups of tea and snack breaks, he felt included in a spirit that was special to the month.

He found himself valuing every moral of his meal that was otherwise consumed mindlessly, the inexplicable feeling of enthusiasm and fulfilment when he sat alongside his friends gathered minutes before the end of that day’s fast, the joy of taking that first sip of water and the beauty of sharing the evening meal with people from all walks of life. Over the days he learnt and understood the science behind fasting and its benefits; he got familiar with the dos and don’ts.

All this was not without challenge, for other than functioning normally through the day fasting, in order to not impose on his parents for his choice to fast, he saved a portion of his evening meal so that he would have a ready healthy meal in the early hours of the morning before beginning his fast the following day. He had kept up his fast for 24 days, he recalls with a smile laced with humility and fulfilment, after which he had to leave the country for work.

Much later in the year 2010, upon arriving in the UAE during the holy month of Ramadan, in a new country, amid people of various nationalities, all of whom were fasting, he once again decided to join them in the daylong fast. With his previous knowledge and experience, he was familiar with the practice.

What astounded him most and to this day remains unforgettable was that even in a foreign land, amid people who were each from different countries and different backgrounds, he recollects that the spirit of the month was as familiar, their methods similar, the evenings as vibrant, the sincerity to the teachings of the Quran that they abided by as strong, and the experience as humbling as that in his little village back home.

Today, he says he feels very thankful, humbled and indebted to this country where his dreams grew, quite literally, into a reality and became the lush organic garden, and during this holy month he extends his thanks, good wishes and prayers to the UAE.

Ramadan Kareem.

Pranitha Menon is a freelance writer based in Dubai. Twitter: @MenonPranitha