Fasting, feasting

Posters announcing Iftar virunu are a common sight in front of restaurants all over Kochi. Ramzan month has started and Muslims have started observing the month long, dawn to dusk fast. It is almost as though you can’t talk about fasting without mentioning the feast in the evenings.  

Most people, these days, rush to the nearest restaurant to break their fast. For a homemaker, this is surely a relief for they need not spend time and energy in the kitchen preparing complicated dishes when they themselves are fasting.

But what is the idea, wonder many even within the Muslim community. Is it stuffing oneself with a lot of proteins and carbs after a daylong fast? We try to find out how the various rituals connected with iftar have evolved over the years, especially in an urban setting.

Arafat Biwi, a homemaker, says that her family used to break the fast with a glass of water, dates, fruits and very minimal food and once they were done with the prayers they used to have a sumptuous dinner. However, nowadays, her dining table is filled with all sorts of snacks, pathiris, meat items and drinks as soon as it is time to break the fast.

Arafat is in fact happy that a restaurant near her home provides iftar virunu and she along with her three kids, husband and her in laws go there and have dinner. However, dietician Gayatri Asokan, is completely against this trend. She says, “It is really unfortunate that people are getting lured by the business techniques of restaurants. It is definitely unhealthy to consume high quantity fried and fatty food immediately after hours of fast because the fat is directly absorbed by the body. People should try and understand that fasting means detoxing and not indulging in unhealthy eating habits.”

However, not all are throwing caution to the winds. Gayatri says that there are many well educated people who know the real motive of fasting who consult her months before Ramzan and take advice on how to maintain their health while fasting. “I also have clients who ask me to prepare a diet chart for them, which they can follow and stay healthy. I feel that it is a very good change.”

Adding to this, sous chef of Holiday Inn, Shihab P. Kareem says that, people should understand that our lifestyle has changed and therefore it is high time we changed our eating habits as well. “Only a small percentage of people in Muslim community are vegetarians because meat and seafood has always been the part of our eating habits. But in the light of increasing lifestyle diseases people should start thinking of eating healthy. And I feel that a small percentage of people have started doing that as well. I have been asked to prepare steamed food for iftar parties, which if eaten in a minimal quantity are not only filling but also nutritious.”

Though the holy Quran allows people with illness and pregnant women to refrain from fasting, this is not always followed. People diagnosed with diabetics have high risk if they fast, says doctor Jyotidev Kesavadev, leading diabetologist of Kerala. While a section of  the people fast despite knowing about the risks because that’s what religion recommends, an increasing number of patients now opt not to fast, according to the doctor. “Most of the doctors do not even try to initiate a talk among people from the Muslim community regarding this due to fear of hurting their religious beliefs. But it is a positive sign that people are giving it a second thought.”