Yesterday, my Maa—a Hindu woman who fasted every Tues "for Ganpati" all thru her 32 yrs of marriage, until Papa passed away—observed her one day of #Ramzan fast, for the 16th consecutive year.

She put to use her food photography skills—learnt over many shouting matches with me—

...neatly arranging her #Iftar https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> spread to share pix with her Muslim friends.

She began teaching at a kindergarten school in a predominantly Muslim + Punjabi neighborhood (Kurla), when I was in high school. Her colleagues fasted.
She joined them, on what she learnt as the most...

...auspicious day of #Ramzan month.
She was a teacher in the morning shift. But on this day, she would carry a watermelon ("it& #39;s cheaper from your nearby Kalina market") & take the crowded bus again to school in the evening, to break her fast with colleagues who worked in the...

...afternoon shift.
When Papa passed away in March 2016, she continued teaching to cope with grief, and fasted that year too, on that auspicious (27th or 28th?) day of #Ramzan with her colleagues.
By then, she gave up fasting on Tues, in the name of my father& #39;s well-being....

...she was disappointed with her "Ganu" for not respecting her Tues fasts & taking Papa away.
Yesterday, she sent me a photo of her #Iftar https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> spread. She sent a prayer out for her ex-colleague N, who was dealing with her crisis & ill-health.
Late last night, N called her & asked...

"...were you praying for me?"
Maa said yes, but how did N know?
"I felt better in my body in a very long time. I reckoned you were fasting & you prayed for me."
Maa would take prasad from Siddhivinayak temple on Tues to school, when she& #39;d go there before daybreak & make it to....

...school on time. Maa would sometimes have tiny morsels of prasad to bring back home, coz her Muslims friends ("esp those native to Bombay", she& #39;d insist) would lick the sheera prasad off their fingers. She& #39;d buy extra.

She misses her colleagues post-retirement. Next year...

...I& #39;ll go to school during #Ramzan & continue fasting & #Iftar https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> with them, Maa said.
The school now has a new admin & proprietor, I remind Maa.
"So what. #Ramzan is still the same every year. The teachers were my family for 16 years. They are still family."

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