Lucknow: Apart from religious prayers and keeping roza, Ramzan has been the favourite time of the year for foodies in Lucknow where streets are bustling till late at night. However, this year, with coronavirus lockdown and social distancing norms in place, people are set to embrace a different kind of Ramzan altogether.
The Akbari gate area in Old Lucknow, which used to be the central point for late-night outings during Ramzan, will be wearing a deserted look for most time of the Holy month. Salman Mahmood, a resident of Aishbagh area in the state capital recalls, “We used to drive either to Akbari Gate or to Aminabad to have some good food after the iftaar. This time everything is shut down and I don’t think things will be normal soon.”
Meanwhile, Anshu Singh, a resident of Indira Nagar area said, “Though I don’t eat non-veg food, what I liked the most about Ramzan was the ambience that we used to get when we went out with our friends. I used to enjoy Kashmiri Chai and Pheerni, which used to be my take away from the Old Lucknow area. That late-night hustle will surely be missed, but let’s hope things get better soon.”
Among Lucknow’s major attractions are Tundey Kebabi shop in Chowk, Raheem’s Kulche Nihari, Mubeen’s to name a few. However, with the lockdown in place till May 3, the shop owners do not see any respite even after easing of the lockdown.
“We are concerned as we will not be able to serve our customers who used to come from far off places and won’t be able to serve the Rozedars. I just pray to Allah to make things normal soon and to save everyone from the coronavirus,” the owner of Raheem’s Kulche Nihari, Mohammad Osama, said.
On the other hand, as far as prayers and Taraweeh are concerned, religious leaders and clerics have already urged people to follow lockdown guidelines and pray from inside their houses. Keeping in mind the coronavirus lockdown and social distancing, Islamic Centre of India has announced that it will live stream the recitation of Holy Quran during the month of Ramzan.
The Islamic Centre of India will do a Facebook live stream every day during the Ramzan period from 8 pm to 10 pm on its page, which can be accessed by anyone across the globe during lockdown. The Facebook Live of Recitation of verses from the Holy Quran will start from April 25, said Chief of All India Islamic Centre, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali.
“As the lockdown is in progress and social distancing norms are also being practised, the All India Islamic Centre will be live streaming the recitation of Holy Quran. Every day two paras (chapters) will be recited from 8pm to 10pm. People should perform wazu and listen to it with their family members. Following this they should perform 20 “ratkaats” of Namaaz-e-Tarweeh. I know it is important for Muslims to pray to Allah during the month of Ramzan, but keeping in mind the prevailing conditions, this is the best way to pray to Allah and keep everyone safe,” he said.
“There should be no Iftaar parties at all, instead that money should be utilised for food and ration for the poor people. Also, people should avoid sending loads of Iftaari to the mosques, they should only send Iftaari for four or five people who are in the mosque. People should pray especially to end this pandemic,” Mahali added.
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