Journalist and podcaster Soaliha Iqbal was initially both pleased and bewildered to see the growing hipsterfication of Sydney's Lakemba Ramadan Night markets, which she grew up visiting.
Last year, she noticed increasingly long lines and more expensive stalls catering to large crowds coming from across the city. There was a new 'festival vibe' that reminded her more of Sydney's hip inner west.
But her appreciation soured when a drunk woman said to her 'go back to where you came from'.
(The market) is really for Muslims to feel a sense of community, and you're welcome to come but then to make it unsafe for the Muslims that it's for, I think that's really wrong.Soaliha Iqbal
Soaliha also talks about consciously sharing Ramadan with her Anglo-Australian fiance Mitch and his family.
"In adulthood, you really have to self-actualise and think to yourself, "Am I doing this out of habit? Or am I doing this because I want to?"
Moving out of home strengthened her commitment to Ramadan, but it was very different from the big family gatherings she was used to.
"I was making weetbix for myself in the morning and I was like, 'I hate this! Where is the paratha?'"
For writer Lina Ali who doesn't fast for health reasons, the challenge was building her own relationship to Ramadan. She did this by hosting Iftars.
One of the things that I found really ostracising was that after I couldn't fast anymore, people often assumed that my Ramadan meant less.Lina Ali
LISTEN TO
The hipsterfication of Ramadan
SBS Audio
28/03/202330:16
My Ramadan is a five-part podcast about how we experience Ramadan and Eid in modern multicultural Australia.
Follow at , in the SBS Audio app, on , , or your preferred podcast app.
CREDITS
Host: Sarah Malik
Executive producers: Sarah Malik and Caroline Gates
Audio Engineer: Jeremy Wilmot
