Ramadan Kabbadi Match

The annual kabbadi (local wrestling form) match took place in Shahpur today. Like the annual Baba Pir festival, Shahpur's most important event, this too went ahead despite it being the month of fasting, the holy month of Ramadan. Although much of the nation puts up a pretense of sobering down and desperately trying to show spiritual revival by forcing restaurants to close down during the day, mandating office hours from 9am - 1pm (not a bad thing that), cutting down on music and replacing it with religious music-less naats etc., fact is, given the chance to celebrate and enjoy, people will be more than willing to do so.

However, I anticipate that in the next few years, people will see the holy month of Ramzan (Ramadan) as a time of 'festivity' rather than 'spiritual revival' - a lot like how Christmas has ended up being in the West. A less religious and more this-wordly event. This is evident from how 'commercialized' the holy month has become via television channels shows, ads of consumer goods, and even through the 'instrumental-less' songs. Unlike the past, there are now cinema houses showing daily feature films.

Personally, I see more of my acquaintances no longer fasting from the past year. Or selectively doing so. The pattern and the signs are both unavoidable and a natural shift toward "rethinking" Ramadan.