Miscellany Of Desi Tadka

First Fast

"Mama? Baba? Wathe up! Wathe up!" Little Asher jumped up and down between his asleep parents. "Mama mama mama!"

"Mm? What is it, Ashie?" mumbled Amyra, her mother. She reached out for the boy's waist and pulled him towards herself. "Why are you awake, kid? Now, don't tell me you're hungry," she chided, narrowing her brows.

"Mama mama you have to wathe up. It is time for duhooooor," he said. His little eyes went wide as saucers as he elongated his o's. Mama looked at the timepiece and laughed.

"There's still an hour to go, kid. Go sleep." She tucked him in, and gently patted his back, but the soft hues of the crescent ended up being more attractive to the little boy than sleep.

"Ramadan..." he cooed.

~

"Baba? Why are you not eating?" asked a curious Asher. His father, Omer was busy stealing another snore as the duo sat at the table. Amyra brought two plates and set one on the table. Then she stared at her husband, aghast.

Swatting a hand at the back of his head, she whisper-yelled, "How can you do this every time?"

"That's because I'm sleepy," he mumbled back. Rubbing his eyes, he took an empty plate and placed a sandwich on it. Then, he continued dazing at the plate in anguish and oozing sleep.

"This," -Amyra bit into her sandwich- "is the exact reason I told you to go to sleep instead of playing that goddamn PS6 or 8 or whatever-"

"It's a PS5."

"Yeah, whatever." Little Asher turned his eyes between his parents, then quietly grabbed a PB&J sandwich and dived in, relishing the sweet gooey mix.

"So, you wanna fast too, Ashie?" asked Amyra in a much sweeter tone than the previous tone. Omer's head rose awake right away.

"Yeth! Mama fastin', Baba fastin', Boo fastin', Nino fastin' toooo! Dath's why I fastin' too!"

"But you cannot even drink water, kiddo," said Mama. Asher's eyes widened for a second before he smiled and nodded with his full mouth.

"I gonna fasdh- boop," he said, burping a little. Amyra smiled, while Omer squinted at the little boy.

"Let's see how long you fast, son," he uttered.

Soon after the binge-eating fest called suhoor, the little family prayed fajr as a congregation. Asher rummaged for his little prayer mat and white cap and spread them out on the floor like his parents. He remembered what his 'boo' had said about salah and stood obediently, even though he had the urge to poke his father on the side and trouble him.

"My dear bubble, when we do salah, we talk to Allah ta'la. And Allah ta'la only listens to those who do salah nicely!"

Sleep overcame him amid his parents making dua'. He leaned asleep on his father's elbow. His father gently ruffled his hair and put him to sleep on his lap. Later on, he threw him on the shoulder and tucked him in.

~

When Asher woke up, no one was in the room. He looked around and then hopped off the bed. Walking outside, he found his father sitting on a plush chair, engrossed in work. This time, he poked at his elbow.

"Your mama is out for work," Omer replied, unaware of what the child wanted to ask.

"No!" Asher shook his head. He poked Omer's elbow again.

"Then?"

"Can we do dhomedhing?" he asked. As was his habit, his shoulders bent forward, his eyes squinted and a pleading smile plastered across his little face. When Omer didn't budge, he added, "Pweeshe?"