KARACHI: The first fast of the year on Tuesday brought out various kinds of rush at different places in the city. While there was no shortage of people thronging the markets to buy iftar items, there was also no dearth of folks distributing free iftar.

Mosques are the main places for free iftar distribution and the biggest of these mosques was the New Memon Mosque on M.A. Jinnah Road. With its extensive courtyard, it was the perfect place for sitting down for iftar in a relaxed atmosphere after breaking one’s fast and saying Maghrib prayers.

The platters were laden with fruit and samosa, as well as spinach, chilli and potato pakoray, the most popular item for breaking fasts in our country. Apart from the iftar items, there were also dinner platters with yakhni pulao on the menu to warm the soul.

From the big mosques to the smaller ones, iftar was being distributed everywhere for people on the go to be able to stop for a bit and break their fasts. Among the smaller mosques was the little green mosque near the Cantonment Railway Station gates, from where the iftar was being distributed among travellers, railway passengers and the coolies or porters. All who sat down to break bread together on the brown rolled-out prayer mats outside the mosque had plenty to be thankful for to the Almighty.

Meanwhile, doctors may be screaming themselves hoarse to avoid heavy fried food when breaking fasts but who was to stop the people looking for freshly made savoury items for iftar in the market?

Burns Road was the best place for traditional items such as samosa, chana chaat, dahi phulki, dahi baray, fruit chaat and sherbet. Just like supermarkets are popular for having everything under one roof, here you had everything under the sky, selling like hot cakes.

Many people had arrived from far away areas to buy iftar. Some said that they wanted to have something special on the iftar dastarkhwan, it being the first roza of the month. Some were there because their kitchen gas supply had let them down all day, and by the time the supply was restored, there was no time to prepare everything.

Some also said that their area was without electricity for some time so the fridge could not freeze ice cubes and so they thought of buying chilled sherbet from a stall instead.

Whatever the reason, folks long for fried stuff and sweet items during iftar like flies are attracted to honey. But experts say that these things are high in fats and calories, which can lead to indigestion and bloating. Good health should not be taken for granted. They ask to consider the other option of having fruits for iftar.

The best fruits, which are in season these days, include watermelon, pomegranate, papaya, guava, strawberries and gooseberries. These with the all-season apples and banana should make a nice combination providing healthy nutrition and less calories.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2024