It’s about half past six in the evening and many techies who work in Technopark can be seen making their way to the Juma Masjid at Pallinada, near the main gate, or to the mosque near Greenfield stadium to pray and then break the fast. “During the month of Ramzan, I come in a bit early to work so that I can leave at 6 pm to attend prayers at Pallinada mosque and break the fast with piping hot tharikanji,” says Zainul Abid, a PHP developer at Infospica Consultancy Services, a native of Kannur.
Zainul Abid
Mohammed Hashim, a software engineer at Quest Global, also goes early to the office to make it to the mosque in time for prayer.
Mohammed Hashim
“I usually leave the office by 8.30 pm. During Ramzan month, however, I adjust my nine hour-shift with my teammates in such a way that I can leave office around 6 pm. It’s easy because we follow a flexi-hour system in the office. I try and finish up all the more important work by at least 2 pm to free up my evenings,” explains Hashim.
Saadullah T.K.
They say, juggling schedules is a bit easier if the teams are small. “There’s just six of us on the team. My colleagues are more than happy to help me exchange my noon shift for a 9 am to 6 pm shift,” says Saadullah T.K., a software engineer at Polus Software.
Shajad T.P.
Most companies in Technopark try to accommodate employees who are fasting. “It’s very important to have a supportive work environment during this time. Most of my team is spread out across the world and most of the clients are in the United States and Europe, who begin work around the time it’s time to break the fast. They are all very understanding about the situation and don’t object to re-arranging meetings so that it does not clash with prayer and iftar time here,” says Shajad T.P., a senior project manager with an MNC. “It’s in the afternoons that the tiredness really set in and so I make sure that I finish off all the creative/main tasks beforehand and try to do only typo stuff in the evenings,” he adds.
Ajeena T.S.
Ajeena T.S., an Android developer at Quest Global, has been observing the fast since she was a young girl. “It’s really all in the mind and fasting doesn’t affect my work at all. I’m on the morning shift and I get to leave in time for iftar. We also have access to a prayer room throughout the day,” she says. A native of Alappuzha, Ajeena is heading home for Ramzan.
Abin Abbas
Abin Abbas, another software engineer at Polus, works the afternoon shift. “If at all I am on a call or in a meeting at the time of breaking the fast, I step out to eat something or my colleagues will go to the canteen and buy food for me,” he says.
Some companies like Kameda Infologics and Flytxt, provide iftar dishes every evening of the month for their employees.
At Flytxt, for instance, they serve juice, fruits and dates to break the fast, followed by a more substantial meal such as idiappam with chicken fry and mutton curry. They also throw a big iftar party for their employees.
For the past 17 years, TechFriends, a charitable organisation on campus, has been hosting a ticketed iftar party for Technopark employees, which includes sumptuous servings of biriyani, along with prayers and lectures, the proceeds of which go to charity.
Iftar party organised by Techfriends
Some techies like Riyas Abdulrahim, who works in the legal department of an MNC, organise iftar parties for their teammates.
“I've been doing so for the past four years. I started with home-cooked food for my team of 65. This year I organised a party for 500 teammates, complete with ghee rice, chicken curry and so on, catered by a techie-turned-chef,” he says. Certain restaurants on/near campus such as Tea Leaf also get into the act with free iftar snack packs that includes a selection of fruits, juice and dates. Reportedly, they give away iftar snacks to around 40 people daily.
It’s techies who stay in hostels and as paying guests who find it a bit of an uphill task to eat solid meals before daybreak. Saadullah, a native of Kannur, for instance, does not get food in his PG. Instead he fills his stomach with dates and nendran banana at 4 am. “After breaking the fast with something light, I try and eat a heavy meal for dinner from one of the cafés or canteens on campus,” explains Saadullah, who has taken a couple of weeks of work from home option till Ramzan.
Shajad, a native of Kozhikode, survives on tharikanji from the mosque and eats only bread and a couple of carrots before starting the fast each day. “I try not to indulge myself with too much of rich food. It sort of defeats the purpose of the fast,” he says.
Zainul, meanwhile, has a meal service that delivers extra food to eat before daybreak, along with his dinner.
