Submitted by: Hasim Bham
When we think of Indian weddings, the second thing we think of is Indian food. We Indians have lived in India as one family, regardless of our faith. Indians share a lot of things such as culture, school, university, cinema, restaurants, sunshine, rain… in fact we share almost everything – except faith. And yet we know each others faiths very well, and we have mutual respect too. From childhood we have lived and played and grown up together. We know each others family, we know and celebrate each others festivals. We have very strong bonding with one another and whether or not we believe in the same things, we do believe in each others friendship. We spend most of our time with each other.
Let me share my own experience with you. I grew up in Gujarat in India. We lived, and still do, in a predominantly Hindu area. My family were Muslim faith, my friends at school were Hindu, and when I went out to play after school, the children played with were Hindu. When I was growing up all, or the majority of my friends, were Hindu. We lived in a safe and friendly environment. I was not the only one. My father has the same story and a similar childhood. My sisters and brothers also have the same. I believe, to this day, the most safe place in the world is my home in India. Not because of Hindu, but because of my friends and neighbors. This is because we do not drag faith into our everyday life and our human interactions.
When we have a wedding in India, we made a special meal for Hindu friends and neighbors. We can have over a thousand people attending the service from Hindu communities. We know the food they eat, and we know that to be in line with their faith, we cannot offer them Halal food as they do not eat meat products. We want our guests to come to our event and share the joy, and enjoy the food, and give them the same blessing as we would give to our children.
Friendship in India does not end there. It travels the borders. I have numbers of friends in London – a multicultural and multi-faith city in the world – who are from the Hindu faith. We do invite them to our weddings, and we do prepare the meal in line with the faith: basically pure veg only. And they attend the wedding too. They have meals in our events too.
I have Hindu friends in my neighborhood who have been running a corner shop for the last 30 years. The local community is Asian Muslim and my neighbor is inviting a Muslim friend for his daughter’s wedding. He is looking for halal catering for the event. This should not be breaking news – it is quite understandable that he has invited Muslim guests and he wishes to offer them a meal they would enjoy most. He does not wish to impose a meal of his choice, he prefers to offer a food choice for guests who are non-vegetarians. Most, if not all Indian caterers in the UK have halal catering services, and when we attend the wedding event of Hindu friends, the first thing they will say when we talk about the food is “our food is halal”. Do not hesitate. Enjoy your meal. The catering services provider do not necessarily have to be Muslim halal caterers.
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