Each period of time has its characteristics by which it is being remembered later. Older are recalling memories an talking, while youth is listening, remembering and recounting later. So our interlocutor, Zijad Bascausevic remembered how days of Ramadan were in the time of his grandfather, more precisely 100 years ago.
“I often recall grandfather’s stories about how Bascarsija had a different smell during Ramadan“, recalls Bascausevic adding that according to those stories, Bascarsija had a smell of preparing iftar and somun all the day.
As he described, above today’s tram station on Bascarsija, there was a bakery where people were carried a prepared meals, for example traditional Bosnian pot (Bosanski lonac) or whatever they decided to prepare for iftar, to be baked there.
According to old stories he remembered, somun was once being carried on head.
“When someone orders a somun, a courier put the board with somuns on his head and went to a certain address on that way“, explained Bascausevic and added that it was a special charm of Ramadan in that time.
When comparing past times and now, our interlocutor said that he thinkas that everything is somehow different now. Carsija (the main square) looks like any other month in the year, there is nothing special in it.
“People are fasting, going to the mosque, gathering for iftars, but there is nothing left from that old feeling as once“, considers Bascausevic adding that while before iftars were being prepared all day, and family and neighbors were meeting in their houses, today, people gather in some of restaurants and that is it.
Those were beautiful times which are being gladly recalled by older generation in Carsija.
“It is nice today, but not as before“, concluded Bascausevic.
(Source: faktor.ba)
