People who live in Pakistan don’t realise how lucky they are as Ramazan in Pakistan is a very special time. If you go abroad after having enjoyed the sights and sounds of this holy month here, you really have a very tough first Ramazan.

You not just miss the family and the fun times at Sehr and Iftar, but you also miss the overall feeling of unity and connection, as everyone is doing the same thing and sharing the same experience as well as things.

There are just too many things that make Ramazan better here. For instance, you can’t have a variety of snacks, like parkoras, samosas, rolls and chaats of all kinds, that you can find in every locality of every town and city of Pakistan. We can’t think of our Iftar without these. And the jalebi, lassi, red sherbet and tasty fruits — where else but in Pakistan?

The other thing which Pakistanis miss abroad is the atmosphere in this holy month. There is a unity of purpose as people rush to mosques for prayers, even the Fajr prayers, and everyone rushes back home after a short workday, though causing some traffic jam on the roads, and often a bit of a shuffle breaks out.

Then the markets are filled with so many food stuff and other things. The evening sees all kinds of snacks being sold and queues of people lined up to lay their hands on the mouth-watering stuff. And not just this, every restaurant worth its salt has a special Sehr and Iftar deal and a special Ramazan menu that make eating out a few times in the month a must.

But the best time is the night, with the streets and mosques lit up and a sea of people heading to the mosques for taraweeh. People of all ages move together with the same purpose and the abundance of mosques in all neighbourhoods means no one has the excuse to miss it. Special arrangements are also made in mosques for Aitekaf during the last ten days of Ramazan.

Once the night prayers are over, the fun and games on the street begins. As doing any activity is difficult in the day while fasting, the faithful take advantage of the night. Living abroad you are surely going to miss these night matches you played daily after Taraweeh and this quality time you spent with your friends, chatting until Sehr time.

While abroad you can’t enjoy the nights both in prayer and with friends and family as you do here because the school and office timings are regular in other parts of the world with a Muslim minority. Moreover, being late in the morning or napping at the desk is only allowed in dear Pakistan where everyone else is doing the same and know that a bit of leniency for a month won’t bring the end of the world.

Abroad things get more uncomfortable when you see people eating and drinking in front of you. In Pakistan, this isn’t the case. Almost everyone fasts and all eating places are closed in the day so one doesn’t get tempted and uncomfortable explaining why you are fasting and that too for a whole month!

These are some activities of daily routine in Ramazan which are the speciality of this holy month and which we surely miss when we go to any other country in the world. There is no place like home, Pakistan, and these and countless other reasons make it the best country in the world!

Published in Dawn, Young World June 24th, 2017