By Poornima Marh, TwoCircles.net
Shaista Yacoob, 43, is a writer, poet based in Bangalore. Born and brought up in Bangalore, she has been living in Benson Town since Childhood. She has done journalism in College. Recently, she started a small catering business called Shaista’s Little Kitchen.
“It has been a few years since I have been learning the Quran. It is very difficult to understand the true meaning of the Quran, unless you have someone to teach you. I have always read the Quran, but understanding it’s true meaning is very tough.”
“I really want to put in the effort of learning it. You have to understand the context of what was said and why it was said. There has been a reason, there has been a context, a moment in the prophet’s life when something has happened, and the revelations came on him. So we have to know the situation to understand what it is all about.”
” I saw a friend of mine recently who is also learning the Quran. She found a few things in Quran which she thought were very demeaning to women. but then when she went and researched, she realised what she had been thinking is not what the Quran says. It was actually a very beautiful interpretation of a woman.”
Her earliest memory of Ramadan was of an old man who used to come to the locality to wake everyone up for Sehri. She says “I remember this old, frail man, so bent and concave, he used to come every morning with a duff. This year he did not come. I don’t know why, but he came every year without fail. It is a beautiful moment when you wake up in the morning for sehri. God has said that he is listening, and that there is no veil between you and him, at that moment.”
” It is a magical month, Ramadan. It leaves you with a new feeling. After it is over, it is a big turmoil, its very challenging. You are so much in the mode of this month. Your soul is peaceful and your desires limited that coming out of it is not easy.”
TCN Series: Ramadan 1439