MORE than 4,000 people were hosted to one of the largest iftar gatherings in Bahrain over the weekend.
The meal was the largest in the history of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) Bahrain, an expatriate charity and volunteer organisation for Muslims from the southern Indian state of Kerala that has been operating in Bahrain since 1981.
Fifty pots of special traditional Kerala Dum Biryani – made with more than 500kg rice and 600kg chicken – slow cooked in a sealed, heavy bottomed pot for hours were broken open on Saturday for the iftar at the Indian School Bahrain (ISB) Isa Town campus.
Also served were more than 100kg of dates, 10 juice cartons each of apples, oranges, and grapes, 800 litres of watermelon juice, and snacks including 400 litres of “tharikanji” – a Ramadan speciality porridge served in Kerala – 3,800 pieces each of cutlets and samosas, and 10,000 bottles of water.
KMCC Bahrain president Habeeb Rahman was emotional at the turnout.
“It showed how much we needed this opening up and embracing and we are happy that we could host such a big event,” he told the GDN.
“We are not aware of any other gathering for such a large crowd in the country. It is also historic to us; we always used to have around 2,000 people in the past. This was emotional.”
The 12,000-strong association invited all its members to the iftar expecting “the usual” 2,000 plus members to join. However, the meal, which was held as an open event after a two-year break due to the pandemic, saw an overwhelming response forcing the organisers to arrange for additional food.
“We served traditional Kerala dum biryani cooked using 550kg rice and 600kg chicken; 50 pots of biryani were opened at the venue,” explained Mr Rahman, who is also the chief executive of Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Centre, one of the sponsors of the event.
“We were ready for more than 2,000 people, but when we saw more people coming in, we were a bit overwhelmed concerning the food but luckily we could manage it.”
The gathering included men, women and children and the event was managed by 180 volunteers.
Last week, the KMCC had hosted yet another iftar under the patronage of Indian Ambassador Piyush Srivastava to mark 75 years of India’s independence – Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – an Indian government initiative to celebrate the country’s history, people, culture and achievements.
raji@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))