Mangaluru: An Iftar that the coast never had before

Mangaluru: Ramzan is over, there were hundreds of Iftaar parties all over the country in the last month but the one organised at Mangaluru will be remembered for a long time to come at least in the coastal city.

The setting was under a banyan tree at Hebich learning centre in one of the uptown areas of Balmatta in Mangaluru city with soft backlighting, soulful live music, food and a separate place for men and women to do namaz. All this was arranged by a well-known advocate of the city Dinesh Hegde Ulepady who is known for his reformative social movements. He himself had tied the knot under a banyan tree some years back.

"Organising this Iftaar party was not easy as I was confronted by many problems.First, I found a problem with myself, I did not know if it was to be called Iftaar party or just an interfaith gettogether. But then there were problems of conservatives, my friends whom I consulted told me that I might face some opposition from the conservative people

.The most intimidating thing was the police.They wanted all sorts of queries to be answered. I did reply to many of them but later I hung the phone saying I was busy.I decided to hold the event with or without police help or permission," Dinesh Hegde Ulepady told Hans India. "But despite all the problems I faced the event was a runaway success.

My friends in the Muslim community told me that they never had such a fine event where Hindus, Christian and Jains participated and exchanged views, but the most objective view that was held generally by the participants was that it was an occasion for people from all communities to come together on a common platform in these times of communal divide, which filled my heart and felt my efforts were fruitful," Ulepady said.

Ulepady is not a wealthy man to fund such an expensive event. In many cases, he does not even charge fees for his legal services to his clients. His friend Muneer Katipalla who gave him advice on how to hold the Iftaar party said, "Dinesh does these insane things now and then and every time he emerges successful which is commendable."