Not because I am writing about you means I have already developed a little sense of fascination and admiration about you. Believe me; some things are just worth a time, not habitual, not customary. The impression remains, no matter how frequent you change faces, that you can never be more than a distant, lifeless and pretentious splendor. Don’t ridicule me; I am not as cold as you, it's just sometimes, I couldn’t see beauty when it is too close or when it is too far. The fact that we can never be together, albeit our ardent desire to be, is pushing our ways away from our hearts, better leave in peace than closely distracted.
When I was a kid, I used to spare thoughts about you, wondering if one day I'd see you more intimately and hold you like a giant firefly in the palm of my hand. As I grew older, I realized that wanting you is but a game that children's play, like magic, like Pinocchio, like the air I breathe, but unlike magic, Pinocchio and the air I breathe, I can see you sometimes so clearly, yet it doesn’t make any difference. You listen but never speak to anyone, you shine a light that brings cold, you watch us when we don’t know and you care less when we want to be heard. I had enough of such character.
Many moons had passed, from where I came; your image has never graced my imagination in an important way. My heart is already stuffed with grains of solitude, mostly of things I learned from you. But as my fate travelled far and brought me in this place where the land is as scorching as the sun and souls are as cold as the moon, I witnessed how some culture pays respect for what others can only deal well when they're dead. In the Muslim nation where I currently stay to work, moon plays a crucial role in ushering a holy celebration, the Ramadan. And for the first time ever, I got to think elsewhere beyond my own prejudice. Beauty is not seen by near or far, but for what it's worth, things maybe, to some a sorry loser, to some a grand winner. Ramadan is impossible without the sight of the quarter moon. It is amazing to know that some souls rely too much on something that other people couldn’t care about.
When I was a kid, I just don’t used to spare thoughts about the moon, I remember learning my first direction with it, "where's the moon?", they often ask of kids just starting to learn life in the world and I innocently pointed my little finger to that tiny distant piece of luminous object which eventually would represent my life's ambitions. My moon had never come any closer to my grasp, a little view maybe but not a range where I could touch, smell or feel it. Nonetheless, amidst all the indifference, the moon has never turned his back on anyone, yeah, sometimes it hides, sometimes it frowns, but it always see, it stays, it waits and it doesn’t abhors.
The sight of the quarter moon on the 9th month of the Islamic calendar marks the start of the Ramadan, the most holy celebration in the Muslim world and it ends after another new moon has been sighted. Being in a community where majority of the populace are Muslims, we owe it to them as we learn and experience the real essence of the fasting, abstinence and simply being kind and good. It feels quite uneasy especially that part when we have to be a little reserved and cautious in our actions, but having our office timings shortened by three hours , that’s a price we're very much willing to pay. Plenty of time to travel, to bond with friends, to cook, to watch television, to chat, to blog, to think of home, to rest, Ramadan is, by and large, a season to be the real you. Thanks to the moon.
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