Roja

In an effort to empathise with the local cause, and as a test of my own strength, I have agreed to try fasting for Ramzan today.

After having eaten a dinner of curry and rice at around 9pm last night, I set my alarm and went off to sleep. It is now 4.10 am, the pre-dawn sky is still as black as pitch and I, along with 145 million others, am getting in a final quick bite before the sun rises.

The thought of waking up at 4am to eat rice kept me in a state of semi-consciousness last night, partly out of dread at the thought of having to get up at 4am and partly out of excitement at the novelty of getting up to eat and drink huge amounts of food and water and then go back to sleep, and partly out of curiosity as to how my body would cope.

I’ve been advised to drink at least 2 litres of water at this time to hydrate my body, for the “nil-by-mouth” day that lies ahead, but while there’s a certain comfort to going back to bed with a nice full belly, a belly this full could have potential dire consequences.

The rice is being heated up on the stove as I write this, and I’ve just gone outside to wish my fellow fasters a good morning. The village is abuzz with the early morning “Sehri” ritual. Dim lights are glowing and I can hear someone singing in the distance. For most people (well, the men at least), once the eating and drinking is finished, they’ll be off to the mosque for Fajr, the first prayer of the day.

The rice is certainly tasting good, but I’ve never eaten this type of food in this quantity at this time of the day before, so my stomach isn’t sure what’s going on. I wonder how much difference this pre-fast face-stuffing will actually make tomorrow.

Rice is finished, and while I savour the last mouthful and say goodbye to food for the next 14 hours, I feel a slight lurching in my gut, which tells me that I’m definitely not accustomed to this. Additionally, the water I’ve consumed in the past half an hour has totalled approximately 400mLs, and, with my stomach as full as it can be, I doubt the last 1.6 litres will be possible, thus I fear my body may become dehydrated quickly.

At 4.42 am, the call to prayer is going out across the country. I’m taking my tummy back to bed for another few hours’ sleep, that is, if my body will cope being in a horizontal position right now. Perhaps, if there’s a next time, a cup of tea and a piece of toast will suffice for my Sehri.

It’s going to be a long day.

10.00: 7 hrs and 36 minutes to go.

So far, so good, although I yelled at a little girl this morning. This may have been a direct consequence of a belly full of rice and lack of sleep, but is more likely a result of complete loss of patience after having told her nicely no less than 15 times to move away from my window and stop watching me sleep. I was only in my underwear, and I think she was actually just dumbstruck at the sight of me. When she saw me in my undies, the usually chirpy and talkative girl was lost for words. All she could do was stare, wide-eyed and mouthed and say, “Uh.. uh.” I think I gave her a real shock when I went striding over to the window, yelling, “WHAT?? HUH?” and slamming my shutters in her face. Poor darling.

11.26: 6 hrs and 10 minutes to go.

Am still not too hungry, although I can feel myself becoming dehydrated. Am also conscious of missing my morning coffee – something I rarely do. Headache from withdrawal may be on the horizon.

12.20: 5 hrs and 16 minutes to go.

Oh, so thirsty. Saliva just not cutting it anymore.

1.10: 4 hours and 26 minutes to go.

Actually feeling ok. Got a dull feeling of hunger, but I think that excessive rice has really helped. Would love some water though.

People keep thanking me for taking part in the Roja today.

3.05: 2 hours and 31 minutes to go.

Still getting many thanks from Muslim well-wishers – it seems word has got around that I’m keeping roja today. The dialogue seems to go like this:

Muslim person: Roja aajke?
Me: Yes
Muslim person: Thank you!

Stomach is definitely rumbling now. Have a dull headache and feeling slightly sick. Also have little energy. Luckily I managed to get a lift home on a rickshaw with Nizam. The walk would not have been nice in this heat.

The upside of having a country-wide fast is that the whole country feels lethargic, so workplaces close down at 3pm. Most people (including myself) will have the final couple of hours before Iftar made a little easier by having a little nana nap.

And that’s exactly what I’m about to do.

4.50: 46 minutes to go.

After an hour or so sleep, I am feeling relatively well. Headache seems to have gone, and I don’t really feel sick anymore. Just hungry. With only a little while to go, I am starting to see the point of the HUGE meal at 4am – I have only, in the past couple of hours felt properly hungry – am really looking forward to that Iftar.

Sometime after Iftar: Well, that wasn’t so bad after all. I’ll try it again in a few days and see if it was just a fluke that my stomach managed to stay satisfied for most of the day.