At ‘Amma’s Iftar Party’, a Hindu family brings communities together in Bengaluru

He said, “Amma was very disturbed. This violence was not part of the Ram that she worshipped, as she sees Ram present in all people. So, this Iftar is not a statement but an introspection.” He added, “This Iftar should actually not be something unusual. It is something very normal that has become unusual.”

Venkat also said the way he and his sister have been brought up had also given them a broadminded view. He said, “As a Tamil family growing up in Calcutta, we would help our neighbours and our neighbours would help us. In a way, we would seamlessly move between identities as Tamilians brought up with a Bengali spirit.”

As many as 65 people had attended the first edition of “Amma’s Iftar Party” in 2022, and about 110 were expected to attend this year. Catering for the event was done by a nearby branch of the restaurant Karim’s, which provided food at a nominal rate and also made separate arrangements for fruits so that guests arriving after evening prayers could break their fast.

Among the guests were activist Teesta Setalvad and Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair. Setalvad and a few others also addressed the gathering before the iftar meal, sharing their appreciation of the event and anecdotes of inter-faith unity.

Setalvad said, “When all of us experiencing deep distress at the hate around us… to find the moral courage and strength to conduct such an event, I would like to thank Amma. The sheer lived value which she had spoken about last year and this year is not mere tokenism.”

Another guest shared memories of tensions during the 90s when her neighbours had helped them escape from an unsafe environment.

The event also saw the distribution of postcards by the citizens’ group Save Constitution, some bearing images of the Preamble and others with passages from the Constituent Assembly debates.