Have you ever felt the pulse of Dhaka in Ramadan? The way this unforgiving city pauses just before sunset? As if it’s holding its breath with the rest of us, then exhaling in unison with the call to prayer?
If you’re an unlucky officegoer like me, you probably have felt it already. For a whole month, this restless metropolis, always rushing and buzzing, has moved to a different rhythm, adjusting to the fasts of millions.
This year, the usual office hours have been set from 9:00am to 3:30pm to make fasting easier. However, the traffic in Dhaka is merciless.
The same old fight starts when everyone sets to go home from the office, with thousands of people stuck in traffic, anxiously watching the clock, and silently praying to make it home in time for iftar.
And then, just when frustration peaks, the long-awaited thing happens — the Maghrib call to prayer.
For a moment, everything starts feeling a little kinder. People who may never have spoken to each other exchange water and dates. After all, it’s the time for iftar.
Food packets are passed from one rickshaw puller to another. Traffic cops who were just directing irate crowds now give out water bottles to anyone in the area. People who couldn’t make it home in time shows kindness to each other.