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