Whenever I conjure a picture of Ramadan in my mind, I see a table full of food with my family gathered around it. I think of someone waking me up for sehri , the aroma of food filling the house as evening approaches, and of a time when the entire family gets to share a meal together. However, the picture isn't as colourful for everyone.
For young professionals living away from home, Ramadan presents a bleak reality. While iftar tends to be a celebration for most, for them, it is just another meal. Often, even procuring a filling meal for iftar becomes a struggle.
Abdullah Al Faiaz, a territory sales executive at a reputed multinational company who is currently posted at Madaripur, said, "I'm having a tough time managing healthy meals for iftar ." "After coming home from work, I am usually too exhausted to prepare anything. Here in Madaripur, it's very difficult to hire household help.
Just the other day, after waking up 10 minutes before iftar , I simply warmed up a cup of noodles and that was essentially all I had," he added. The biggest challenge of living away from home is perhaps the change in the menu for sehri and iftar . Back at home, those who live with their families are accustomed to home-cooked meals for iftar .
However, for someone living alone outside Dhaka, home-cooked food is a luxury. "Whenever I'm in Feni, there's no specific menu for sehri anymore," said Tanvir Rafi, a cluster manager at Grameenphone, who's currently posted in Feni. "Sometimes, it's just dat.
