A ray of hope

Miyan Chintan,

Ramazan is in full swing here, there and everywhere. While it’s way too bloody hot and humid to stay away from water for over 14 hours, I should be the last one complaining. Fortunately for me (and not really in line with the spirit of the holy month), I sleep till late in the day because of my awful work hours and wake up just a few hours before the Iftar time (that’s when you break the fast, for those not in the know), get ready and go to work where I have Iftar everyday. So yeah, for me the rozas are a walk in the park!

Just like my family does every year, this time too we planned one-dish Iftars where every week the few of my relative left in the city (most have moved abroad) get together at someone’s house and each family brings one or max two dishes. So far, the three we’ve had have been, well, gluttonous with so much delicious food around. But it’s an awesome time to meet family and just spend time with them talking, reminiscing old times, enjoying the little kids around. I love these gatherings since I miss out on a lot of family time because of working in the evenings.

Our everyday Iftar usually includes fruits chaat, two types of pakoras (potato and spinach leaves) and batashay, which is apparently something Indian or maybe Urdu-speaking that my mom (who’s from an Urdu-speaking family and her roots go back to Meerut) introduced to my dad’s Punjabi family who’ve all been going gaga over it ever since. And, of course, the staple, dates and juices. It makes for quite a heartening meal but I feel an Iftar would be incomplete with all these foods, although a lot of people would kill me if they find out about my unhealthy eating habits. 

The batashay are very similar to this. Just that ours are dipped in yoghurt.

I’d love to know what Muslims in India have for Iftar because here at least there are some items that are common for every family, e.g. the fruit chaat or dahi bhallay as a substitute. Sadly, we won’t be celebrating Eid this time as two close family members died earlier this year. So it’s just going to be a normal day. Let’s see, I don’t know what we’d do. No work, staying at home, shops etc closed.

Taking a cue from your last post in this ‘blogversation’ of ours, I’d like to say it’s extremely heartening to see, first, that Zee TV has taken this initiative of launching a channel that is showing TV dramas from Pakistan. It’s such a laudable step, I feel! And secondly, Indian audiences loving the dramas they’re watching. I’m amazed and it makes me so happy.

I’ve often had this debate with both Pakistanis and Indians on the Aman Ki Asha Facebook group who want Indian films banned in Pakistan. Their argument has been that if the exchange is not equal then there’s no point in it. And they may not be entirely wrong. But my argument is that this should be asked of the Indian government. No point in depriving our audiences of something they’ve grown up on. Bollywood has a magnanimous market here, which provides our people with some much-needed entertainment since we don’t have a lot to do around here. Because of this, many more cinemas have opened up generating employment, and the best part is that it’s reinforced competition among the local filmmakers who’re churning out a lot of films now than before. It’s a pity they don’t work, but at least they’re being produced; the effort is being made and eventually this will lead to better films coming out of Pakistan’s own industry with time. There’s so much we are gaining from it.  

It's doing exactly what it's slogan says

This venture by Zee Zindagi has and will continue to ease things up, I hope. This is just the beginning. More dramas will be shown there, then there will be a time when our films are screened in India. I myself don’t watch Pakistani TV plays but know for a fact that SO many families are hooked on to them. I just hope the ones being shown across the border project something positive about the country and its people and not that we’re a bunch of women-haters, which I have heard a lot of plays portray. There are some plays that project women as victims of domestic abuse, weak, subservient to husbands and God knows what! I don’t want such plays as part of this cultural exchange, if I may call it.

But it’s made me very excited that the Indian audiences, including people from the film industry, have welcomed the dramas, view it as a positive gesture and are liking them too.

Here’s hoping for many more such exchanges to follow in various other fields.

On this positive and happy note I conclude my rant. Had waited to write this for some time.

Cheers and all the best for Maine. Keep us all posted J