RAMADHAN;
THE MISTAKEN MONTH OF FOOD?
By: Lubnah Abdulhalim
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| Photo Courtesy: thedeenshow.com |
With
the beginning of the Ramadan season among'st the Muslims, all we see around is
the food stalls all over the roads in the evenings with very diverse kinds of
foods on display. It is at this time that many of the forgotten foods in our
homes are actually cooked once again and I bet the children wait for the
breaking of the fast so impatiently.
Ramadan
is the month whereby Muslims are required to fast such that they may be able to
feel the pangs of hunger of the poor and thus remember them. Yet, it is rather
ironical how our tables at home get filled to the brim when it comes to
breaking the fast. You may find almost ten different foods have been cooked for
a family of three? And you wonder what happens to all that food that will
obviously remain.
Many
consider this month the time to feast and it can get to a very ugly scenario
where one eats and eats till they can’t breathe well anymore leaving alone not
being able to stand up from the place they are seated. This is obviously not
the agenda of this season for it is meant to keep us healthy and not
deteriorate our health even more. People with diabetes, high blood pressure and
many other diseases break their diets while the rest eat a lot of oily and
sugary foods that are obviously unhealthy.
It
is even more ironical that during this season, the food stuffs in the markets
double and triple in their prices instead of going lower. This happens because
the business personnel have realized how much people eat quite more in this
month. This beats the expected because initially, this season is meant for
people to eat less but it is very evident everywhere how food has been made a
priority.
Extravagance
is a very unlikeable behavior and however much we may want to eat a variety of
foods, it is very important that people set a limit to the amount of food they
cook or buy. Let us not cook too much such that the extra ends up in dustbins
while many people out there have nothing to eat. I really admire the people who
barely change their food menus in such a season or maybe just add single food
stuff on the table.
We
all have to understand that this is not a month of eating nor is it an eating
competition such that we act on the food with so much vengeance. It is
important to keep healthy by not over eating or eating too much of oily and
excessive sugary foods. Let’s avoid extravagance by sharing the extra food with
the poor and needy rather than throwing it away.
As
William Londer said, ‘to ensure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live
moderately, cultivate cheerfulness and maintain an interest in life.’
