By Vinod Raghavan
Muscat: A realisation has crept up in Oman that most of the marginalized sections from various walks of life, who used to have a variety of food at the Iftar parties during Ramadan, are deprived of such filling food after Roza. This has been a reality for the third consecutive Ramadan in face of certain restrictions still in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This Ramadan, the Oman government announced a few relaxations such as opening up the mosques only for prayers. However, holding public Iftars during Ramadan is still not allowed. While public gatherings are curtailed by 30 per cent of the capacity, still no Iftar parties are allowed in public places.
Hence, cutting across boundaries and religion, several housing societies, shopping complexes and hotels are organizing small gatherings and also distributing “Iftar Kits” not just to friends and relatives and at various labour camps in Oman.
Lulu, a well-known brand in the Middle East, has tied up with local NGO N7N to provide wholesome Iftar meal boxes to people on the move, who are unable to be at home to break the fast. Mustafa Sultan Exchange, which has over 20 branches in Oman directly deals with expatriates who visit them to transfer money, has distributed around 2000 such Iftar Kits (water, laban, dates, sweets and fruit) to the visitors.
Even some big hotels were not far behind picking up the trend. The Hilton Garden Inn in Al Khuwair, Muscat, hosted an Iftar party for the members of the Indian Media Forum. At the party, Usman Vallyad of Malayalam newspaper, Siraj Daily, was felicitated with a memento at the hands of Smruti Sasidharan, Head of Sales, as he was going back home to Kerala, after spending nearly a decade in the Malayalam publication published from the Middle East.
In Oman, many non-Muslims too, are trying to contribute with a firm belief of giving back to the society and sharing the feelings of fasting during this Holy Month. Rekha Premraj, who celebrated her 17th wedding anniversary, distributed Iftar food kits to her near and dear Muslim friends. She and her husband distributed around 100 kits just before the Iftar time.
Even the local Church in Oman, organised an Iftar party while adhering to all the precautions and stipulated government rules and regulations. And a Hindu organization, Sanjay Sai Sewa, headed by Chithra Narayan, who also runs Middle East Nursery, organised Iftar along with Vishu celebration (Malayalam New Year) at their courtyard in the Mumtaz area in Muscat, surrounded by plants and trees. Prominent members of the organization Dr J Retnakumar, Lakshmi Kothaneth, were among the attendees along with the media fraternity members of the Indian Media Forum and many of them broke the fast with dates, fruits and laban. The food served was traditional south Indian vegetarian food – Idli, Sambar, Chutney, Puri, Subzi, Unni Appam, a variety of juice and laban. As it is, Chithra’s husband Narayan has been observing fast throughout Ramadan month for the last 28 years.
The saying goes that “God never deprives the needy for long”. In Oman, the corporates, and individuals of all faith are proving this true, after COVID-19 disrupted lives significantly in this desert nation.
