Summoning the strength - Day 17

Life continues as normal in Ramadan and if you have to meet someone after work at a cafe then so be it. If the waiter continues to look at you confused and almost annoyed at your lack of willingness to order a beverage, then so be it.

This month is supposed to be practiced first from within, then with the family and then from within the community. A three tiered approach to achieving success! In simple terms: free yourself, please your mother, save the world. The latter being much easier than the former.

Throughout the entire day somehow all the little verbal or subconscious insults are registered more critically and I find myself doing my best to watch what I say and do. It is said that during Ramadan, the devil abstains from whispering in the ears of man to make them stray. Others extrapolate that the devil and his minions are locked in hell for this month. In any case, the point being that during this month the only person you have to blame for your mistakes and deeds is yourself.

Should you come to browse the plethora of webportals on the subject of ramadan you may come across the usual 'advice' section - the Ramadan Survival Kit. I was a bit taken aback by the advice that I should wear halal clothes. Somehow I am not convinced Nike did an ablution, prostrated himself and blessed his scissors before sewing my t-shirt. I could be wrong though. However, the alternative of wearing a "Go Team Allah" t-shirt is not any better either. Unless halal means Chinese sweatshop. I am sticking to my made in India/Bulgaria/Egypt basics. I've never been one to wear my religion on my sleeve - let's face it when push comes to shove we all wipe our faces with our sleeves. Imagine the consequences.

Point I am making is that Ramadan is not supposed to be the one month of the year wear your wear your 'Go Team Allah' t-shirt with pride only to stick it in the laundry till next year. Then don't wear it. Focus more on how you can exploit yourself for good this month. And when I say exploit I mean it. Bit like those sweatshop workers that made your t-shirt. Just do it. I have to say I took a short cut this year. Other than feeding complete strangers, helping out my sis with my monster of a niece (love her!), I have not done much else in the way of helping out my community. I just sent money to Egypt and told my mom to do some good. Usually I would send myself with it to Egypt to partake in this 'good' process. Good being a rather large word in this case. But here's the thing - it’s not some magical formula you punch numbers into to get the right configuration - it’s all about how you align yourself this month.

Truthfully this Ramadan so far is about setting new traditions for myself to keep it alive. I realise that a lot of what I equate with Ramadan has to do with family. Without the pinnacle of my family around this month it’s been rather difficult trying to re-invent the month to give it a personal space in my own life that I can then share with others. The best of Ramadan was passed on to me by my parents through their experiences and moral grounding. The concept of charity, goodwill and communal wellbeing is not something a priori but a rather nurtured state of mind. I watched them give more every year and never question where the next batch would come from. I watched them struggle with their health but never give up. I watched them generate smart charitable traditions and pass them along to others without a single claim of ownership. They are quite frankly two of the most selfless people when it comes to the perpetuation of good and equality. Don't get me wrong I am not putting them on some pedestal here (just in case they read it) - I am just grateful I was able to observe this from up close and soak up some of their wisdom.

I started with this blog for that reason. An attempt to upholster Ramadan with the fabric of generational experiences so that it doesn’t become yet another mass produced byproduct of a religious downturn. To an extent I want to prove that religion is what you allow your faith to make of it. The more we question ourselves the more we restrain ourselves from making misguided decisions. The more we remind ourselves that our actions are interdependent and of consequent to others, hopefully the more we take caution and realise that risks in this arena are best saved after steady calculation. Like inviting strangers over for dinner. Calculated risk assuming they would like my food. So, what new tradition will you start this year to pass on to the next?