Ramadhan tradition

Ramadhan tradition

There is an old tradition in my family. Every day during the Ramadhan month I remember my grandmother used to make ten paper bags out of old newspapers, poured one liter of uncooked rice into each one, placed a rubber band around each and distributed them to needy people she met on her way to the market.

In those refrigerator-less days, housewives made daily trips to the market for fresh food. I remember the excitement of helping her make the bags and listening to her voice telling us about the value of sharing, which is emphasized in that month. Somehow we felt sorry when that special month was over.

My mother did it too, her's were ready-made brown paper bags. Unlike my grandmother who distributed them from her langganan dokar (horse drawn cart), my mother distributed them from a car, with all the windows rolled down for fresh air. And now my bags are made of paper too, old discarded office papers we buy from the nearby warung (street stall), but they contain the same amount of rice as my grandmother's and my mother's did.

My grandchildren are rarely here to help me, they are at school abroad. I have my driver distribute them from his car- window while I sit in the back seat and the other windows remain closed, on account of the air conditioning.

Ten liters of rice a day over 30 days, I know it is a drop in the ocean, but it's the spirit behind it that counts. Almost all members of my extended family honor this tradition. It goes without saying. What I also remember is the smell of exotic food from the kitchens. Recipes only prepared during Ramadhan are tried again. All housewives prided themselves on their respective ancient, ethnic recipes. There was so much food, not for the family only, but especially for orphans, widows with children, elderly people, mosques whose leaders distribute them again to the needy in their communities.

I remember how proud we were, when allowed to carry a tray loaded with food to the neighbors. Sometimes we received a tray too and when we teased our cook that their food tasted better, she would chase us out of her domain with lots of laughter from all of us. Our early morning meals are usually left untouched, our stomachs can't take the food at 4 o'clock in the morning. In the last days before the end of Ramadhan our paper bags multiply, some are bigger for those needy families with more children.

Suppose that only 10 percent of the families in Jakarta had the same tradition (I know many who do), all one needs is a calculator to work out how many extra kilograms of rice is needed in Jakarta alone during Ramadhan. Not yet included is the rice collected privately in communities all over the city for the Zakat Fitrah (tithe in rice or money donated on the last day of Ramadhan).

Does this answers Mr Luckett's cynical question: "Can anyone out there explain the annual government reports of 20 percent to 25 percent increase of food supplies to feed the city during the "fasting" month of Ramadhan?" (The Jakarta Post, Feb. 23, 1995).

It's not that some people eat more, but that more people eat some.

INA SUMARSONO

Jakarta