By Poornima Marh, TwoCircles.net
Shabbir, 57, lives in Bangalore with his wife and three kids. He works in Islam Institute of Technology as a non-teaching staff, and also works as a Uber and Ola driver for airport taxi service.
“I have two girls and a boy. Both my daughters are computer Engineers, I am very proud of them. My boy knows the Quran by heart. It feels really good.”
Shabbir is from Shimoga, he has been in Bangalore for the past 38 years. When I asked him what he likes to do in his free time he said “I like helping people. If in this life I can be of service to someone else, I would consider myself worth of having this life. I feel very content.”
He has been fasting since he was 7 years old. Every year he goes to Shimoga to celebrate Eid with his mother. He says “Ramadan is a lovely month. I feel very happy during this month. The thirst that I feel, the hunger, it gives a very nice feeling, and when the iftar time comes, and when I have food, the taste is very different than on the usual days. The feeling you get when having water is something out of this world.”
“For me Ramadan is nothing short of a miracle. I want to share with you an incident that made my faith even stronger. Just four days before Ramadan I was in immense pain. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with kidney stone. The doctor said that I will have to go through surgery. All arrangements were made, the doctor also advised me not to keep fast during Ramadan. I remember 17th was the first Roza. Inspite of the doctor’s advise I still kept the fast and thought lets see what happens. That morning at 11, the stone came out itself and I did not go through any surgery and I am still keeping the fast everyday. I would not call this incident any less than a miracle for me. Ramadan gives an inner strength, and courage to face whatever comes in life.”
TCN Series: Ramadan 1439