Breaking fast while catching a train

Kaspia, a sixty-year-old woman, sat under a tree on a bench next to the platform at Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka, waiting for her son to return with iftar items. She had never broken her fast in a railway station before, but keeping the traffic situation in mind, she had no choice but to come early as she had to catch a return train from Dhaka shortly after iftar.

As she sat there, she noticed Syed Mahbub Alam, a man from Bogura, who was waiting with his wife and daughter to break their fast on the platform. Despite not being in the comfort of their home, they were determined to carry out their religious obligations.

Khadiza Aktar, a medical student from Bajitpur of Kishoreganj, was also waiting for her train with her father, having purchased boxes of iftar items from a nearby shop. She had been living in a hostel in Dhaka for several months for medical admission purposes and was now returning home.

The railway platform had turned into a makeshift iftar gathering, as many passengers sat on benches and waited for the azan of magrib to signal the breaking of their fast. Md Faruk Hossain, who had come to Dhaka for legal purposes with his elder brother, said that doing iftar with family members at home was a different experience altogether.

Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, a resident of Habiganj, had arrived at the station at 3:45pm, even though his train was not scheduled to leave until 8:00pm. He and his wife had just been discharged from Bangladesh Shishu Hospital with their two-year-old daughter, and they were waiting for their train with biryani packets to break their fast along with his wife.

For many of these passengers, the railway station was not the ideal place to break their fast, but they had no other alternatives.

Despite the challenges they faced, their determination to fulfill their religious obligations and their love for their families made the experience all the more meaningful.

As the sun began to set, the passengers on the platform shared their iftar items, creating a sense of community in an unlikely place. This moment of togetherness amidst difficult circumstances serves as a reminder that the spirit of Ramadan and the love for family and community can transcend even the most challenging of situations.