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The true spirit of Ramadan

One evening a friend was stuck near the Sahara Centre in Sharjah. Since it was nearing the time to break fast, the mall wore a deserted look with not a taxi in sight. The friend was sure he would be late for ‘iftaar’ but just then, a cabbie appeared out of nowhere and picked him up despite the fact that he himself was heading home carrying eats for his family’s ‘iftaar’.

As the time to break fast approached, the cabbie pulled off the road, bought water and two cups of tea from a nearby cafeteria and asked the the passenger to partake from the impromptu food.

The duo then headed to a nearby mosque for prayers, following which the passenger was dropped at his residence.

A simple act of kindness from an ordinary man goes to make an extraordinary spirit of Ramadan.

Quietly flows the traffic

THE traffic on our city roads has got a whole lot better since the holy month of Ramadan began. Could it have anything to do with the different office timings in the morning? Yes say most motorists, many of whom are already exhausted by the day-long fast. They also say that though the afternoon traffic rush towards Sharjah takes more time, they still reach in time to relax before the fast is broken in the evening.

Rescheduling office timings perhaps holds the key to a smoother flow of traffic, less frustrated motorists and far fewer accidents mostly caused by speedster and those who insist on tailgating and cutting lanes without a thought to road manners.

Crime and punishment

RAMADAN is the month of closeness with God and a time to abstain from thinking or indulging in bad deeds — not that you can indulge in it at any other time. But this was not the case for several men who recently raped a-14-year-old innocent boy and left him for dead.

The question is: Why is the media is not informed of such shameful incidents that can devastate the lives of innocent children? Who are those involved?

Many such incidents happen around us, but are never brought to our notice and are instead covered up. Unless such incidents are brought to light, the accused will continue to walk free and yet another child will become the victim of a sick mind.

Delay school timings

WHILE the government and private sector start at 9pm during the holy month of Ramadan, it is unfair that school children start their day earlier than the adults. While schools now start classes at 8.30am instead of 8am on normal days, offices have delayed their opening timings by one hour.

In addition to an early start, the traffic jams on the Dubai and Sharjah roads force the children to still leave home as early as 6.30am. Ramadan, or no Ramadan, school children are forever under pressure from both parents and school authorities to reach school on time.

—Contributed by Meraj Rizvi, Lina Abdul Rehman, Asma Ali Zain, Mahmoud Ali, Zaigham Ali Mirza

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