The Days in Mina (Continued..)
Our stay in Mina brought the group closer than before. We had funny moments. In Mina we met sister Shamsun. She was in our tent close to our area. When I first saw her, I thought she was from some Middle Eastern country or elsewhere. The first thing I heard her saying is –‘where is my pillow’, ‘hello-where is my pillow?’ , ‘hello, I don’t have a pillow’. After sometime she was speaking to herself in some language other than English. I didn’t pay much attention at that time. At the end of the day I heard her talking to my mother in law. And she was speaking ‘Bengali’!! She was a pretty entertaining lady in that tent. We heard about her different kind of experiences in the journey.
Other funny moments were when the husbands wanted to call their wives, they screamed from outside of the tent by the full name of their wives or by Mrs. So and so (their own names). We couldn’t help laughing to hear those callings. Sometime the wife couldn’t hear it, and we had to scream inside the tent, it was funnier then.
At the time of meals, we had to stand up in a long line. It was always a buffet set up outside the tents. Usually women move slow which caused the men to be irritated easily when they were waiting long enough with a hungry stomach. At one point, one brother announced that next time there won’t be ‘ladies first rule’. Sounds funny now, but the situation was not that funny and got a bit serious.
Another issue in Mina was loosing sandals. Because we couldn’t bring sandals inside the tent, all the sandals remained at the doorway and it was very easy to take the wrong pair pf them when anyone got outside. It was such a common incident, that once when I was passing by the tents on my way back from ladies room, I heard this conversation in Bangla –
‘Why are you standing here brother?’ – One man asked another.
‘Watching out my sandal’ – was the response.
‘Why?’
‘Well after loosing it 3 times, you are asking me why?
I had the opportunity to throw stones at Jamaraat one time. The rest of the times Fahim had thrown on my behalf. But I wanted to do it at least once. Runa apa, Mary bhabi, Tasnim bhabi all were preparing to go together with their husbands. It was the day when we will be returning back from Mina. So it was my last chance. I told them to take me with them. As it is very easy to get lost in the crowd, so forming groups of 2 was the best way to keep husband wives together. Runa apa told me to go with them. So we formed the group of 2-2 and 3. I didn’t think that Jamaraat would be that close. And at that time of the day, the crowd also was not much. So it was easy for us. I would always remember the favor of Runa apa. She was always careful that I don’t get loose in the crowd. I could throw the stones and I must say, throwing the stones was really an exciting event in the whole Hajj. It is as if I am stoning the Satan for all his mischief. It is human nature to vent by putting blame on something else. In this case, venting is at its highest level. Thanks to Runa apa!
Other funny moments were when the husbands wanted to call their wives, they screamed from outside of the tent by the full name of their wives or by Mrs. So and so (their own names). We couldn’t help laughing to hear those callings. Sometime the wife couldn’t hear it, and we had to scream inside the tent, it was funnier then.
At the time of meals, we had to stand up in a long line. It was always a buffet set up outside the tents. Usually women move slow which caused the men to be irritated easily when they were waiting long enough with a hungry stomach. At one point, one brother announced that next time there won’t be ‘ladies first rule’. Sounds funny now, but the situation was not that funny and got a bit serious.
Another issue in Mina was loosing sandals. Because we couldn’t bring sandals inside the tent, all the sandals remained at the doorway and it was very easy to take the wrong pair pf them when anyone got outside. It was such a common incident, that once when I was passing by the tents on my way back from ladies room, I heard this conversation in Bangla –
‘Why are you standing here brother?’ – One man asked another.
‘Watching out my sandal’ – was the response.
‘Why?’
‘Well after loosing it 3 times, you are asking me why?
I had the opportunity to throw stones at Jamaraat one time. The rest of the times Fahim had thrown on my behalf. But I wanted to do it at least once. Runa apa, Mary bhabi, Tasnim bhabi all were preparing to go together with their husbands. It was the day when we will be returning back from Mina. So it was my last chance. I told them to take me with them. As it is very easy to get lost in the crowd, so forming groups of 2 was the best way to keep husband wives together. Runa apa told me to go with them. So we formed the group of 2-2 and 3. I didn’t think that Jamaraat would be that close. And at that time of the day, the crowd also was not much. So it was easy for us. I would always remember the favor of Runa apa. She was always careful that I don’t get loose in the crowd. I could throw the stones and I must say, throwing the stones was really an exciting event in the whole Hajj. It is as if I am stoning the Satan for all his mischief. It is human nature to vent by putting blame on something else. In this case, venting is at its highest level. Thanks to Runa apa!
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