Its 4.05 in the morning, looking at the alarm clock from the corner of my eye, pressing the snooze button from time to time, unaware that today may be the last day of this blessed month of Ramadan. As usual, no alarm clock had been able to wake me up on time but the non-stop alarm of my mum dragged me out of bed and got me ready for Sehri (The morning meal before fast). After finishing the meal, I rushed to my local mosque for the sunrise prayer.

It’s 6.25 in the morning. I am the only one awake, with everyone having gone back to sleep, I finish reciting the Holy Quran. Sitting down near the window observing the time between dawn and sunrise, a thought is triggered in my mind about my Ramadan last year. I rewind my time to the point of my first day at college. I remember, in the fasting condition, I was passing through the library. It was a short while before I noticed the poster of Mahatma Gandhi on the wall ahead of me. That was the time when I was more proud to be an Indian than anyone and anything, so I went close to the poster, gazing at it for a while and reading a quote below it from Gandhi, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Unaware of the value of the quote and ignorant of the value of Islam, I smiled at it and walked away. Today, I realised Read the rest of this entry »