more-in The sprawling grounds of Beemapally Dargah Shareef is enveloped in quietude in the late afternoon, just hours before devotees break the day’s roza (fast) in the month of Ramzan. Today, it’s at 6.37 pm. While people quietly move around the majestic mosque with grand façades and minarets. A crowd silently comes out of the building after offering prayers, while another goes in after washing their hands and face at the ablution area. Three huge, sealed aluminium vessels are kept on the fire inside a makeshift shed on the grounds. Nombu kanji, a rice gruel redolent with spices, which is served to devotees as Iftar, is simmering inside the containers. Children huddle outside the shed, each holding steel carriers, bowls and jugs. “They will take this kanji home to break the fast,” says Badusha M., a resident of Beemapally. The patient wait ends when Mohammed Rasik, chief cook, takes off the lid of one of the vessels, filling the surroundings with the strong aroma of masala. Rasik stirs the gruel with a long ladle as another person serves a mugful each of the light brown, thick gruel to the kids. “I have been preparing nombu kanji here for the last 18 years. During the month of Ramzan, I leave my thattukada to work here. Today, the pre-dawn meal was at 4.30 am and there is nothing like having this kanji on an empty stomach,” says Razik. The work on the kanji starts by 7 am. Several spices, onions, garlic and chillies are sautéed in coconut oil and added to the mixture of rice and water which is then cooked in coconut milk. “We cook it in dum method (slow-cooking done in sealed vessels on firewood). So the flavours don’t escape and the kanji is piping hot when it is served. Today, we cooked 60 kilos of rice to make the gruel and, usually, 15 to 20 kilos of coconuts are needed to extract the milk,” Razik adds. There are six mosques under the Beemapally Muslim Jama-Ath — Beemapally, Thaikkapally, Dikkeerpally, Jawaharpally, Alfarpally and Badariyapally. While nombu kanji is prepared at each of these mosques, the expenses are met by the Beemapally Jama-Ath. Glasses and steel bowls are provided from the mosques itself. According to Maheen Kannu, secretary of the Jama-Ath, at least ? 1.5 lakh is required every day for the Iftar meal at these mosques. The firewood too is provided from Beemapally. U. Gulam Mohammed, president of the Jama-Ath adds, “People of all faiths come here to have the kanji. There have been days when we were not sure whether we would be able to meet the demand.” Other than kanji, Iftar packets with dates, bananas and slices of fruits are also distributed. On certain days, Iftar meals are sponsored by devotees and then the fare can be quite elaborate with samosas, mashed tapioca and different varieties of fritters. “On the 27th night of the fast, autorickshaw drivers in this area supply 3,000 packets of biriyani to all six mosques. Various organisations and associations also sponsor food, especially dinner, as we move towards the last 10 days of the 30-day fast,” adds Mohammed Kasim, a member of the Jama-Ath committee and an autorickshaw driver himself. Meanwhile, the narrow road behind the mosque is also a beehive of activity. The air is filled with the aroma of an assortment of fried snacks, vegetarian and non-vegetarian, being sold in make-shift shacks. “If you walk down the street, you will find groups of children selling home-made snacks. Samosas are much in demand now,” says Zakir Hussain, a resident of the area. Ameer Khan, one of the vendors, has rava kesari, vegetarian sandwich, “chicken basket”, noodles vada and so on, all made by his elder sister. As the time to break the fast nears, a green rug is laid on the long courtyard of the mosque for devotees to sit. Some sit on chairs under a shamiana. There is a rush to collect glasses of water and Iftar packets. Volunteers ensure that every person gets a packet, including us. And when the sonorous call of the muezzin comes over the loudspeakers, each of those assembled takes a bite of a date and drinks water. They eat the light meal in silence and then have the kanji. “We want everybody to have it,” says a devotee as he hands over a bowl of kanji to us. Food for the soul indeed.

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