By Asif Khan, TwoCircles.net
Through most of the day, the temperature hovers around the mid-forties mark. In the narrow streets leading up to Mustaqeem’s shop in the heartland of Kanpur, it feels much hotter.
The power outages don’t make it any easier. Sitting in his 6’x8’ shop jutting into a 6’ lane, he reminisces about Ramadan during winter. “It’s still not that bad, you now,” he talks about how it’s been this summer, “when the month started, I was actually quite unsure how tough it would be.”
Fasting was much easier when he was a teenager, having started assisting his father in the wholesale clothes accessories business that had been running their household. The holy month fell during the winter season. “We just didn’t get to know when the day got over. Even on the days that we would miss Sehri. It used to feel like bas abhi Sehri kari, aur bas abhi Iftar ka waqt ho gaya.”
TCN Series: Ramadan 1437