Sunday, September 24, 2006

Where is the spirit of ramadan?

In most sub-con countries, Ramadan means subsidised commodities.
However crappy our governments are, they make an effort , that at least during ramadan staples like sugar, flour, ghee, channa (chick peas) and besan (gram flour) among other goods will be sold at a subsidised rate.

This is not an urban legend or myth, the reduction in prices does take place. (its a seperate thing that many shopkeepers do not abide by the stipulations).

Other than dear old Carre4, which has mountains of semolina, ghee, oil, caramel custard, whipping cream, and oh yes DATES, up for grabs.
What happens to the rest of the city?

I had to go buy some qeema (mincemeat) at the same butcher where I have been buying for ages. Its come to a point that I tell him what I want ,pay and walk out and seldom check or calculate the cost.
But, when he asked me to pay 40 dirhams for 2 kg, I paid the money stepped out , and then thought, why 40?
Yes, it sometimes happens that they will give you a little over 2kg and then they try to round up the money etc etc.

I went back and asked him : "Challees dirhams kya hisaab hai?" ( how does it calculate to 40 dirhams)
He informed me that the cost of meat had gone up from 16.00/18.00 to 20.00 dirhams a kg. This is pakistani beef we are talking about which I have bought for 16.00 and sometimes 18.00 a kg.
I did tell him that in Ramadan the prices are supposed to come down , not escalate.
His reply was: Maybe back home. Not here.

14 comments:

clayfuture said...

This is UAE! Prices only go up, never come down. Unless it's a clearance sale. Even then most items are not worth buying!

Boo! said...

I believe the same happens in Pakistan. Government says prices are reduced, and in the Utility Stores (govt controlled supply stores), they probably are.

But that's it... everything else everywhere else goes up.

Anonymous said...

I have a question. I will fast and i work in Australia (orignaly from the cold sweden) Im afraid i will get dehydrated as i have a verry physikal job and the temerature on the field gets above 40*c is there a good way for me to handle this? tips from more experianced fasters whoud realy help.

Daniel
da_nerdii@hotmail(dot)com

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

Kaya, what a shock that must have been! badi bakwaas baat hai.

Boo, really? prices go up during Ramadan? From a biusiness point of view it is cheeky and probably profitable, but from every other point of view quite in the face.

Daniel! Hallå där! Välkommen till vår Ramadan Blogg. Hur i hela friden hittade du oss? :)

I ditt fall är det svårt att säga i och med att jag inte har någon aning hur ditt jobb är och hur länge du fastar osv.

Mitt tips är att prova dig fram. Det viktiga är att alla timmar då du inte fastar bör du hälla i dig vatten, frukt och fibrer.

På morgonen bör du undvika att dricka kaffe och te eftersom de är vätskedrivande. Undvik allt för saltig mat på morgonen så att du inte stimulerar törsten.

Sen gäller det att prova sig fram och se vad din kropp klarar av under de omständigheterna, och kanske fråga en läkare i samråd med möjligtvis någon vettig muslimsk imam eller liknande.

Lycka till!

* said...

OH SS!
Apna GAON (village) ka aadmi mill giya!
LMAO!!!!!
Barkat in this blog.

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

loll I know! Fantastic ey? :)

BuJ said...

totally agree with clayfuture. prices only go UP in UAE!!

Daniel good luck with your fast! I always try to drink loads of liquids during the night, and (obviously) wake up for the suhoor (early morning meal).

Enjoy:
- Salad
- Yogurt (yes, yogurt!)
- Pulses
- Meat (in moderation)
- Fibers

Avoid:
-Tea/coffee
- Grapes
- heavy sweets/meats

And always try to have Iftaar (breakfast) with a soup. My favorite is lentil soup :)

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

Oh my, Buj is here! ahla wo sahla!
Sho ra2yak bil blog? 7ilu moo? lol

No grapes? why not?

Anonymous said...

Thx all of you for your help. Today my biggest problem was the thirst and the need for a smoke, 3hrs left of the day. but i have more experiance now. gues i have to drink more befor dawn.

/Daniel

clayfuture said...

SS can speak arabic as well?

CG said...

Lentil soup! YAy....we are twins then.

Anonymous said...

Nice Ramadan post.

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

Daniel! hang in there! En dag i taget :)

Clay, yes a little.

CG welcome :) I had lentil soup yesterday as well. Must have been a lentil soup day!

BuJ said...

yes SS! I'm here!
thnx :)
and yes clayfuture i guess SS can speak arabic..
i'm off now to get some lentil soup!!!!!
ramadan kareem (RK)