There was quite a build-up to this momentous event, with local papers reporting that 36,000 police had been deployed in Hyderabad, specifically to tighten security around the dual Hindu-Muslim festivals.
While that certainly highlights potential conflict of cultures, all I saw driving around the city was the enormous plurality of it all, and intermixing of festivals. Fireworks for all!!
And so I find myself, 30 minutes after returning home last night from my Ganesh-Galore ride back from work, back in an auto with some friends -- this time headed towards the opposite side of the city: to Charminar and the Old City...the heart of Muslim Hyderabad, to experience Ramadan there.
As always, walking around Charminar feels like going back in time, with lively markets, sellers hawking their goods, and lots of narrow and winding streets...filled with yet more sellers selling their goods. It's a total feast for the eyes. There are sparkly bangles and gaudy jewelry and books and housewares galore!! -- not to mention sari shops selling the brightest, most colorful saris -- filled with women clad entirely in black burkas.
Tonight Charminar is even more magical, with its towers aglow in purple and green. The market stalls are all lit up with white and colored sparkling lights. The Old City is all dressed up for Ramadan.
We stop at a roadside haleem stand advertising "Mutton Haleem". I learn that haleem takes 12 hours to stew -- which is incredible to think about considering the cooks preparing this are fasting the entire day! During Ramadan, of course, Muslims fast from dawn to sundown (not even drinking water)...with haleem as the traditional meal that breaks fast.
And putting a spoonful in my mouth, I can see why. Haleem is extremely hard to explain...except to say it reminds me a bit of meaty oatmeal, with a bit of oily gravy mixed in. While it definitely tastes a lot better than I'm describing it (I do go back for seconds!!), I'm not quite sure I'll be having it again...
The rest of the night is spent wandering through the windy market streets, bargaining hard for glass bangles in Laad Bazaar and people-watching galore. My few words of Hindi is no match for my friends, who I learn are bargainers extraordinaire.
On the ride back, we pass even more giant Ganeshas on their way to the lake, which seems appropriate in this plurality of festivals. There's even a full-out dance party right on Road #1 -- the major road near my house -- which of course I stop and partake in, just for a second.
I fall asleep around midnight to the sounds of dancing and partying.
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